


The Angel Records. Remember the rainbow

by 4eyeddreamer



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, Original Fiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-13 02:20:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 27,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28770726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/4eyeddreamer/pseuds/4eyeddreamer
Summary: Asher is an angel, whose dream was to become a Guardian Angel, but after finishing his training, he was chosen for another position. Still hoping for more, the yellow-eyed angel is offered a case in which he must guard a human. A case that will change his existence if he plays his cards right. However, there are obstacles in his way. And these will make his journey even more fun.Check out the playlist I made for the story here https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3WGIaxyUSDxnGBKjrzRlvS?si=reNPU9OJQYq8wzKkssJ0_Q
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Male Character
Collections: The Angel Records. Remember the rainbow





	1. In the beginning

I'm pretty sure everyone here knows how it all began. _In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light._ And so many marvelous things came later. But I think everyone is forgetting about one tiny little detail... DO YOU HUMANS EVER THINK ABOUT US ANGELS?! I mean, some of you do, others don't even believe in our existence, and the rest of you just haven't heard of us. You've heard of God, saints, the Virgin Mary, demons, even the Devil, but what do you know about angels? I can help you out if you want. I'm going to tell you a little story about angels. One that you've never heard before since this is my story. Oh! I apologize! It seems that I have forgotten my manners! Before I get any deeper, let me introduce myself. My name is Asher, and this is my story.

God created everything, as you already know. He also created these amazing beings called Angels, who are warriors and messengers of God. These spiritual beings are devoted to the Lord. Humans are not capable of understanding angels' true essence. Therefore, whenever they appear on Earth, people see their vessels, their human personification. These spirits live in Heaven, a lovely and peaceful place where some humans end up coming when their time is right. I'm not going to describe Heaven because it's against the rules, but just imagine the best place you've ever been to but even more wonderful.

Ok but, going back to angels, these beings are divided into three categories called spheres. The first sphere is composed by the servants of God. The Seraphims, in charge of guarding God's throne, the Cherubims, who guarded the road to the tree of life in the Garden, and Thrones, who make sure everything is fair in the universe.

In the second sphere, there are angels who we consider the governors of Heaven. The ones who take care of this place and who maintain the order among the spirits. The Dominions or Lordships are in charge of regulating the duties of the celestial beings below them, the Virtues and the Strongholds (these guys are so awesome) are in charge of performing miracles and signs on Earth, and the Powers or Authorities are like the army, they fight against evil forces in the world. They have amazing weapons that can kill ANYTHING, and their main task is keeping the universe safe. Apart from that, they also control how much power is being distributed to humanity which is a fundamental task as well.

And finally, the third sphere. This last sphere is composed by the most social angels. At least that's what I think, as these angels are meant to be the guides, messengers, and protectors of humans. The Principalities or Rulers are the ones who protect the Church, People, and Nations. They are considered to be the guardians and educators of Earth. The Archangels are the ones who guard nations and countries in relation to their politics, trade, and commerce. And at the very bottom of the pyramid you have your average type angels, the ones sent to Earth to guide humans, serve them, and give them messages. This might be the kind of angel you're familiar with. But there are also Nature Guardians, who are in charge of the landscapes and animals on Earth. They could be a kind of Principality, but for some reason they are a completely different category of angels. 

After reading about our complex hierarchy, you might be wondering how each angel is chosen for a job. Well, we've all been trained for all those positions but not in detail. Let's say it was like high school but for angels. However, unlike you humans, we cannot choose our position since it is chosen for us. Despite that, I've always dreamed of being a Guardian Angel. Being there to help out a soul in need, to guide them when they feel most vulnerable, to give them signs and try to let them know that everything will be alright in the end. I can feel it's my destiny to be a Guardian Angel.I met two other angels during my training. Seraphiel and Izrafiel, but I call them Sera and Iz.

"Are you guys excited about your position?" I remember asking them.

"Not really," said Iz with a firm tone in his voice. "I wouldn't be able to guide a human as well as other angels would. I reckon that my perfect position would be handling nature and the animals."

Iz wasn't as social as Sera. He wanted to take care of animals and plants, while Sera and I had the same dream. We even talked about being Guardian Angels to twins and laughed at how incredibly lucky it would be if it actually happened. Angel training was not a long process; it was only a few centuries. And then, after finishing our training, it was finally time. We were going to get our positions! I remember Iz got the Nature Guardian and he was extremely pleased about it. Sera got to be the Guardian Angel he had been training to become. And as for me, for some absurd and preposterous reason they assigned me to be a Nature Guardian with Iz. I remember getting mad at the Lordship who mumbled the words "Nature Guardian" after saying my name. IT WAS RIDICULOUS!! I WAS CLEARLY GUARDIAN ANGEL MATERIAL!! A PLANT DOESN'T NEED THAT MUCH ATTENTION!! WAS IT SO HARD TO ASSIGN ME A HUMAN BEING INSTEAD!?

The following centuries were the most frustrating years of my existence. Imagine not getting the job you were made for and being assigned to a boring one instead . I did my best and tried to enjoy guarding these places, considering this was my job until the end of time. I had fun with this position at the beginning, when everything was new and surprising. I've never seen animals that way. Insecure at times, but absolutely fierce at others. And the trees... breathtaking and full of life. The desert has a unique charm, one that only a few souls are able to comprehend. Now, mountains are something else! They are so close to the sky that it makes me wonder if any human ever tried to climb one just to touch a cloud. I was disappointed when I got this job, then all these natural treasures changed my mind for a minute. But after guarding these wonderful places for an extremely long time, I got bored. I've seen everything there is to see, I know the ending to every story. The rabbit gets eaten by the wolf, the leaves will fall from the tree and then grow back, the brook will keep on babbling and the sun will always shine. I GET IT!

After all those centuries being bored, the Lordships called us unexpectedly for an emergency meeting.

"We need to be prepared. If anything were to happen to this place, we would all be going to Earth, and we would live among humanity. However, we cannot do that in our natural essence. We have called you here today so that you can design your vessels."

I remember my excitement interrupting the Dominion's speech with just one word "Sweeeeet!". But luckily, only a few angels noticed my interruption. Most of them were trying to ignore my awesome comments, like they usually do.

"You will design your vessel during this meeting. But you will not be going down to Earth to _hang out_ with humanity. You already know the rules." said the Lordship in charge of the meeting with an orotund voice.

Still, I think some of those rules are just nonsense. Why can't we fraternize with humans? Aren't we supposed to help them? How can we help them if they can't see us? Besides, humanity has invented so many wonderful things over the centuries. All those films, songs, museums.... They never cease to amaze me... BUT THESE LORDSHIPS WON'T LET US DO ANYTHING LIKE THAT!! It seems to me it's not fair to some of us. At least to the ones who are supposed to be there for them 24/7.

I put aside my thoughts on the topic for the day and looked for Iz and Sera, so that we could create our vessels together. Like you humans, we have computers, but these are more advanced that the ones you have. I would describe them but that would only spoil things for you. Regarding the vessel designs, every angel had a set of options they could choose from. They were random, which means that every angel had different options for their vessel's appearance. Lordships made sure that every angel's vessel was unique. On top of that, the options couldn't be changed once they were chosen. So, every decision had to be made wisely. When it comes to wings, we don't really pay attention to them. You see, it's something we all have, and its only use is being our means of transportation. I know you believe angel wings are an important part of every angel... but I'd like to disagree. We can't even see our wings! We just have them so that we don't have to walk everywhere when we're down on Earth! Ugh, walking! How dreadful!

"How is your vessel going Sera?"

"Oh good, I believe. By the looks of it, I am a tall male with short dark hair, dark skin, dark grey eyes, perfect teeth, and I have a plain white t-shirt. An appealing vessel for an appealing angel" said the Guardian Angel trying to be funny.

"What about you Iz?"

"Well... it seems I have freckles! I've always thought they were a unique and delicate trait on a human face. I am also male, but my hair is light brown, also short and my skin tone is not as dark as Sera's. Oh! and I chose a blue shirt to bring out the beige in my eyes" said Iz with a small voice.

I wanted them to ask about my vessel because it looked so good! And after waiting for almost an entire minute, Iz said

"What about your vess--"

"OH MINE?! Pffff ok look. I have messy brown hair, a crimson hoodie with a purple shirt that has this funny cat with angel wings on it, haha it's really funny look" of course these two were not amused about the cute creature I added to my shirt "... anyways I also gave myself yellow eyes and-"

"Yellow eyes?"

I looked at them confused and in a flat tone I asked "what? What's wrong with yellow?"

"No-nothing" answered Sera "... it's just unusual."

After killing the entire conversation like that, Iz decided to save it by saying "But that is because you are unusual in the best way possible, Ash!", and we had a good laugh for a minute. The Lordship had approved of all our vessels and sent us back to our positions...back to nature!... yay!


	2. The beach is more peaceful at night.

I tried to give it a second chance. _"I loved it once, I can love it again! I just need to find the motivation I once had."_ were the words I kept mumbling to myself every time I found myself hating my position. So, in order to convince myself, I went to my favorite place on the entire planet: the sea. Those waves sing in a calming harmony and the sea animals are so friendly once you get to know them. Despite loving these sweet creatures, I had decided to stay above the water for the night. I looked at the beautiful beach, how calm it was during the night, how the moon illuminated everything so perfectly, how the waves washed off every seashell that laid on the cold sand. Every small detail made it look like the most harmonious night of the century. Everything but one thing. I saw a scrawny man, with messy blond hair walking down the pier. He had a desperate look in his tired eyes, he kept on murmuring some words, but it was just incoherent noise to me. _"I wonder what's on his mind"_ was the only thing going through my head at that moment. I tried to ignore it, seeing it was not my job to guide him. I focused on the waves again. How the wind playfully danced in between each of them. Everything seemed to be calmly in order once more, when all of a sudden, the man screamed in anger and melancholy. And that's when I saw it. The dark-colored mist that was surrounding him; he was being haunted by a demon.

I looked for his Guardian, but he was nowhere to be found _"why would he leave his human all alone and in such a state?"_ I wanted to help, but as a Nature Guardian, I had my limitations. Later that night, Iz came to keep me company at the beach.

"Look at the pier! Do you see that?" I said in a preoccupied tone to my friend, who answered very neutrally with "I do. But you know it is not our place to interfere, Asher."

Iz is a coward and a goody-two-shoes. While I was discussing the situation with him, I saw how the man started moving towards the edge of the pier, headed for the violent waves. At this point, I was certain about one thing: there was nothing harmonious about that night. At least not anymore.

"IZ HE'S GOING TO JUMP"

"Yes, I can see that."

"OH! GOOD FOR YOU! YOU CAN SEE IT! BUT WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING!!"

"Asher, it's not our place! STAY OUT OF IT!"

I knew Iz was just trying to protect me and respecting our rules, but I've said it before and I'll say it again, some of those rules are dumb. And right after his statement, I went down to the pier, wearing my good-looking vessel, and I tried to scare the spirit away.

"HEY! GET OUT OF HERE!!"

The mist started floating towards me and I could hear a gravelly voice that hissed the words "HE IS COMING! IT IS TIME! YOU CANNOT STOP HIM NOW!"

Soon after that creepy message, the mist disappeared into the sea. Still baffled about what had just happened, I ran up to the poor man who was being tortured by the malevolent being.

"Tha-thank you young m-man" said the man with a trembling voice while he was laying on the wooden pier shivering.

"Any ti--"

I didn't get to finish my response thanks to the inopportune Lordships, who were watching the whole thing from their offices and had decided to intervene. A little too late if you ask me but whatever, I'm a nature angel, what do I know?

"What were you thinking, Asher?" said one of the Lordships.

"I wasn't thinking I just--"

"EXACTLY! YOU WEREN'T THINKING!!"

"well, actually..."

"NO! YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MANY RULES YOU JUST BROKE! BESIDES, THE MAN HAS A GUARDIAN ANGEL!"

"BUT HE WAS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND SO I WENT DOWN THERE INSTEAD!! YOU SHOULD BE THANKING ME!! I SAVED THE MAN'S LIFE AND SCARED THE DEMON AWAY!!"

After blurting out those words, another one of those guys joined the conversation by saying "Didn't you notice he was looking for an Authority so that he could have a chance against the demon?"

I did not have a good answer to his question.

"...I did not know that... but now that you mention it, it does make a little sense."

"Asher, you broke the rules... again. You know what happens to angels who fraternize too much with humans. Give me your arm."

I groaned and then extended my arm towards him. Whenever an Angel goes down to Earth and gets involved with a human in any way, they get a small burn on their wrists. It's painless, and its only purpose is to keep track of every mistake the angel makes. I have a few of those on my arm. They look like small brown circles once they scar. However, at first it has a more reddish tone, and it might look painful to you, but angels are not as vulnerable as you humans, so it's just like a mole to us. 100 marks is the limit, but most angels reach 40 or 50 marks since it's not _necessary_ to go down to Earth. Whenever we reach 100 marks then... I'm not sure what happens to those angels. All I know is that it's not anything good... I had 97 when I was transported to the office, and 98 after hearing _"you broke the rules''_ for the millionth time. Legend has it, there were two angels who went down to Earth and got involved with humans _a little too much,_ if you know what I mean. After nine months, both angels became parents, and they were never seen in Heaven ever again. Some people say they are hiding from the Lordships, others say they have turned human, and then there are the ones who say they are dead. Personally, I believe they chose to become human so that they could be there for their children. Don't ask me how they could've done it, cause it's as much mystery to me as it is to you.

After getting my mark, I got up from the chair I was sitting on and asked, "Can I go back to my boring position now?"

They knew I did not like my job since I've been complaining about it for the last few centuries now. It was at this moment that the Lordship in charge stood up and said "Actually, would you mind taking your seat? I have to talk to you about something important."

"... whatever it is, Sera made me do it! I swear!"

The old man chuckled lightly before getting to his point.

"Don't worry, you are not in that much trouble...yet haha"

I laughed nervously since I had no clue of what was going on in that office. First, they bring me here because I caused trouble, and then they tell me I am off the hook? Whaaaaat?

"Listen Asher, I do not support the idea of angels going down to Earth that often."

My eyes opened wide and I couldn't help but interrupt.

"What do you mean _that often?_ "

He sighed in melancholy and answered.

"We love humanity. It is our job to protect it from evil beings and from themselves as well. The only way we can protect them is from a safe distance, without interfering with their lives as much as we would want to sometimes. But every so often, distance is not the answer. Therefore, each of them has a Guardian Angel by their side."

I looked at the other Lordships and pointing at him, I whispered, "Where is he going with all this?"

"Asher! Pay attention, boy!"

I sat up straight on my chair and apologized to the man. Who knew the old man had a temper?

"As I was saying. Going down to Earth is limited to some angels. As you know, Guardian Angels are down there, but not in the same dimension as humans. Hence, they--"

"Humans can't see their own Guardian Angel, which sucks cause it would be sooo cool if they could tackle life's problems together as a team, be friends with each other, talk about everything, and..."

The old man was glaring at me with fire in his eyes. I understood this was the time to shut up and listen. Afterwards, he sighed again, longer and louder this time, and he kept going.

"I see you know a lot about Guardian Angels, which is good! It is going to be useful in the near future."

"Huh?"

"Boy, you broke the rules, yes. But you also saved a soul in need. You might have crossed a line, but you are a caring and selfless being, who is not taking advantage of its powers and potential by sitting at the beach and looking at the way the waves play with the wind and how seagulls go hunt for their own lunch. What do you say, Asher? Would you like to become a Guardian Angel?"


	3. The Lordship's proposal.

If there is one thing I'm certain about angels, is that they suck at pranking people. So, I believed the man when he asked me the question. However, I do remember not being sure about the type of question. He knew I hated my job so, was it a rhetorical question? or was he expecting an answer?

"Heaven to Asher..." said the old man trying to get me out of my own thoughts. "So, do you want to give it a try?" asked the man with a graceful tone in his voice.

"Are you kidding? OF COURSE, I WANT TO GIVE IT A TRY! But why? How?... I don't get it. I thought Guardian Angels couldn't be recycled."

He sat down again and answered all of my questions.

"They cannot be recycled, that is correct. However, we had another situation like this one, but it was with a Guardian Angel"

I was sitting at the edge of my chair since every word he said was more and more intriguing.

"You see," continued the man, "there was this Guardian Angel named Barachiel, who never liked the Guardian Angel position."

I could feel my vessel's face making a weird expression followed by the words "whaaaaaaaaat? That dude is crazy! It's the best job in the universe!! How could he hate it?"

The Lordship shook his head in hesitation and then replied with "I believe there are angels who love being Nature Guardians and ask those exact questions about you."

I looked down at my vessel's feet as embarrassment washed over me, and kept quiet for a while. Then, when I decided to look up again, I asked the man to keep telling me the story of Barachiel.

"Barachiel started being a Guardian Angel when you became a Nature Guardian. You trained together and then went your different ways. I am sure you must remember him."

I tried to remember the guy, but I am so bad remembering essences! "oooooh Barachiel!! Yeah, yeah, yeah! Awesome guy! Total nerd though. He was into miracles and stuff."

The man looked at me as if I had just lied to his face, which I did, but hopefully he didn't notice. "Not exactly. His dream was to become an Authority and he ended up as a Guardian Angel instead."

... I guess he kind of noticed I didn't know the guy but ignored that and kept talking.

"This angel has had lots of cases during his time as a Guardian Angel. His last case started 17 years ago in Florence, Oregon."

"Ooooooooooh fun! The United States!" I exclaimed filled with excitement.

"Yes, the States. His case was a young girl. He had been with her since the second she started breathing. He was always there for her, the good and the bad, the happy and the sad. She might not know it, but he knows her better than she knows herself. And with all that knowledge, he protected her even while she was asleep."

I know I didn't even know the guy, but I was extremely jealous of his life!

"What happened then?" I inquired curious.

"After 17 years of being by her side, he experienced a similar situation to yours. He saw a little girl being haunted by four demons at the same time. So, he left his human's side to go fight for that little girl's life."

I was so hooked on the story that I kept on making my side comments.

"Yaaaaaaas go Bar!! And what did he do? Was it as impressive as my experience?"

"I reckon it was even more impressive than your encounter with the demonic, as he fought against four demons by himself and ended up winning!"

Ok, now I am certain. I was more than jealous of Bar's awesomeness.

"WOOOOOW HE WON?! FOUR AGAINST ONE AND HE WON?! ... That guy's lucky!"

"Indeed!" added the Lordship. "We were all watching the fight scene from our office and brought him in after he saved the girl for the same reason as you, we offered him a change in his position. He is training to become an Authority as we speak."

Barachiel's story was so inspiring, it only made me want to change positions even more than before.

"So, going back to the Guardian Angel thing, how does it work? Do I need to sign something? Cause I will do it if you want me to! I mean, I've never signed anything in my life since I could never decide on what my signature should look like. THERE ARE SO MANY OPTIONS! Do I make the _A_ bigger? Oooh or maybe I could underline my name in a fancy way!! OH! OR MAYBE I COULD--"

"ASHER!"

A silence filled the room, which I later destroyed by saying "Sorry... whenever I get too excited, I just don't know how to shut up and I start rambling..."

The man got up and grabbed a short string. While going back to his chair, he used his calming voice and said "Do not worry, boy. I do not personally understand your excitement, but I can try to relate to it. Now, this talisman is very important. It will give you your assistant."

I was speechless and astonished at the fact that Guardian Angels had their own assistants, that when he handed me the talisman, my jaw dropped, and I wasn't able to thank him like a civilized being. Fortunately for me, he found my reaction funny.

"wait... this is a shoelace, sir."

"We made your talisman into a shoelace, so that you do not lose it. Tie your shoe with it, and then shake your foot. That will reveal your assistant for this case and, if you are successful, for your future cases as well." explained the wise man.

I was so nervous! What did these assistants look like? Were they terrifying monsters? Deadly weapons with a life source of their own that would help me protect the human in my charge? OR COULD THEY BE ROBOTS?! I just had to find out!! So, after tying my shoe, I shook my foot as hard as I could. All of a sudden, the entire office was covered in a warm yellow glow, and after two seconds, a tiny creature appeared.

"Ah! Marvelous! Asher, this is Willow. It will be your assistant."

I wasn't disappointed with what came out of that glowing portal. I was... surprised. The tiny creature was an adorable glowing sheep with tiny blue wings attached to its back and a high-pitched voice.

"Howdy! Nice to meet ya!"

"This is my assistant?" I asked the man while examining the sheep up and down.

"I prefer partner." said the flying creature.

"Yes. The talisman is never wrong, boy! Willow is going to be of assistance in this case. Whatever you need, you can ask this little guy, seeing as it has the answers to everything related to the case. Including basic information about your human! You can trust your _partner._ "

The tiny helper approached my left shoulder, winked at me and said "I'm always _willing_ to help. HAHA SEE WHAT I DID THERE? WILLING! AND I'M WILLOW!!"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it." I interrupted while pushing the flying fellow out of the way and heading towards the man in charge. "Is it always this chatty?" I whispered to the old man, who laughed at my question and then joked "You will get used to it." I rolled my vessel's eyes at the living thing while it was giggling in the background.

"Now, pay attention to the following." instructed the man while looking into my eyes and signaling Willow to stop messing around. "As you already know, there are rules you must follow. First of all, you must stay in your dimension at all times. You are not to go into her dimension. Second of all, you can communicate through signs... ugh Asher, there is no need to raise your vessel's hand! What is your question?"

I had been raising my hand for two whole minutes and WOW I DIDN'T KNOW HOW WEAK THESE VESSELS WERE!!

"Thank you, sir. I was wondering, can I use ANY type of sign?"

He stopped to think about the answer, and then he stated "As long as you stay in your dimension, do not mention anything too personal, and make it a subtle one, then yes. You can do whatever you want. Be creative! Let your imagination run wild! I reckon this is the entertaining part about guarding a human being."

I started dancing while still sitting on my chair and I recall telling Willow "Ok, Sheepy! Take down notes! We're going to send animals, stuff through her friends, oooooooh Instagram quotes which will TOTALLY RELATE TO HER LIFE!!! She won't even see it coming!!"

"I LOVE IT ASH!!" said the little animal while giving me the cutest fist bump.

"I am glad you already have your ideas Asher. But there is more." continued the man. "Last but not least, you are not to interfere in her decisions. You have to show her the path, but you cannot make her follow it. Humanity was given free will when they were created, and we, as celestial beings, must respect it."

"Wait what?! BUT WHAT IF SHE IS ABOUT TO MAKE THE BIGGEST MISTAKE OF HER LIFE?!" I snapped as I jumped out of my seat.

The man shook his head again, and then responded.

"You will be there to guide her afterwards. Nevertheless, interfering in that way is strictly forbidden, Asher. Humans have to make mistakes. Without them, they would not learn anything. Whatever _atrocity_ she is going to commit, you must let it happen. Remember that!"

I sighed and mumbled "okay fine..."

After answering him, he headed towards a big wall and opened a bright, blue portal.

"You have one year to put her in the right path. If you succeed, then the job is yours. But, if you cannot accomplish this task, you will go back to your original job as a Nature Guardian. Are you ready, boy?"

And with a big smile on my vessel's face I screamed "OH YOU BET I AM!! COME ON WILLOW!! WE HAVE A GIRL TO GUIDE!!"


	4. Emersyn.

The portal led to this big bedroom. There was jazz music playing and posters of musicians hung on every wall, fairy lights shining from the left side of the room, and a navy-blue rug hugged every inch of the floor. There was a king-sized bed with a lovely and colorful blanket and a few stuffed animals on top. I will admit that the furniture is something new to me since we don't have things like these in Heaven... just some chairs in the Lordships' offices and perhaps a few tables or desks... but beds and night tables? Flowery curtains? Stuffed Animals?! Well, that's new! I also remember something else had called my attention; a transparent panel that was inserted in the wall. (I believe you call it a window) I was fascinated by how much light could enter the room because of it, and how amazing the view from the room was. The house wasn't close to the rest of the houses. It was closer to the coast, and, consequently, closer to the lighthouse and further from the rest of the town. It appeared to be in another reality, closer to nature and the seagulls, further from traffic and people. It seemed like a peaceful and relaxing place for a human to grow up in.

The room gave me the feeling that this human was an aspiring musician, who loved colors and stuffed animals... Give me a break! It was my first case!!

"I like the vibes in this room! It's so peaceful!" remarked my partner.

"OH! CRAP! I FORGOT TO ASK THE LORDSHIP FOR SOMETHING! ... Well, I guess I can fix it myself."

Let me explain why I screamed that out of the blue. When I got offered this opportunity, I wanted to do one thing; I wanted to change my shirt. I KNOW! IT SOUNDS SILLY! But hear me out. I had this funny shirt of a kitty with angel wings and a halo on it, and I could feel there was something missing!! And I realized what it was right after they told me about this job; MY SHIRT NEEDED A QUOTE!!

"What are you babbling about, Ash?"

"Okay, okay. Ready?"

I took off my shirt and shook it, like it was part of a strange magic trick or something. As I was putting it back on, Willow smiled proudly and read the quote out loud.

" _Guardian Angel in training._ Funny and cute. I like it!"

"Thanks bro." I added as I went in for another one of those cute fist bumps.

I was still trying to analyze the room when I heard a woman in the distance that screamed "Don't forget to give Zach his bag!!"

"Yes, Mom!! I know!!" replied a girl who wasn't as far as the woman was.

After that short dialogue, a red-headed girl entered the room.

"mmmmm... If I were my journal, where would I be?" she mumbled to herself while looking all over her desk.

I had never been so close to a human while being in this dimension. Being stuck in this dimension meant that I could see her, touch her and hear her, but she would never notice. This is what stressed me out so much. I could use my vessel and become her friend instead of giving her thousands of signs she might never see. The best part about my plan is that she wouldn't even suspect I'm not human!! I have the perfect vessel and I know a lot about humanity as well! I would only need a last name, a fake family and boom! I'm another human, just like you. But I reeeeaally wanted to be a Guardian Angel and I only had two Earth trips left, so, I had decided to play by the Lordship's rules. It was the only way. I guess it was the time to start getting creative with those signs.

"What's on your mind, partner?" said Willow while flying around the room.

I immediately stopped thinking about going into her dimension, as it would only get me and the little guy in trouble, and I answered my little friend's question with another one.

"What can you tell me about her?" I asked in a monotonous tone while examining her as she kept on rummaging through the papers on her writing table. Subsequently, a pair of cute and tiny glasses appeared on Willow's face, while it was skimming through this big book which had the letters "E.H" on the cover.

Two minutes later, my partner finally gave me an answer.

"Emersyn Howell. 17 years old, born and raised in Florence, Oregon. Her birthday is the 14th of December, her favorite color is purple, she likes pasta, playing the violin and roller-skating. Jazz, Pop and Rock music are always blasting out of her headphones, and she likes Fairy Tales and Adventure movies."

I stopped observing the girl to glance quickly at the creature and replied.

"... I guess that explains a few things... But can't you give me something a little more useful?"

Willow tried to look angry by adding a tiny frown to its adorable face and then it cried, "What I just told you is extremely useful!! You can send signs through the things she is interested in!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I know, but I need to know about her relationships with other humans in order to send helpful signs, don't you think?" I remarked while elbowing the little buddy.

It sighed, and then continued with the information on the girl.

"She lives with her parents and with her younger brother named Zachery. She has a best friend named Lorene, who has been with her since they were little kids. There is a girl who likes to bully her. Her name is Daphne Andrews, and she is the most popular girl in school and they have a bad history."

"HA! FOUND IT!!" exclaimed the girl as her face lit up, while holding a pink notebook in front of her face. She danced her way to the bed, where she then laid down on, her back facing the ceiling and her stomach on top of the blanket. She opened the notebook, took a pen and then started to write on it while her feet were dancing to the jazz songs she had on repeat.

While still being absorbed by her presence, and without taking my eyes off her, I imposed a question.

"What about a love interest? Boyfriend, girlfriend... anything like that?"

"mmm... there is no boyfriend or girlfriend chapter in here... So, I guess she has always been single." was Willow's response.

I remember reading about love. About how strong and powerful it can be. So, I thought that if we gave her someone she could love, she would most definitely be in the right path. And yes, I know she has the love of her friends and family, but I'm talking about the other type of love! The one teenage girls often crave, the one that little kids are disgusted by, the one angels are not able to comprehend entirely; that type of love. Considering it is one of the most magical forces humans are aware of, I was certain that it would help our case! A lot of signs would be needed, but it could be possible.

"Any good ideas?" asked Willow with a curious tone in its voice.

"What if we make her fall in love? She has a wonderful family and friends. I don't see why she isn't on the right path already!"

"Yeah... but have you checked her heart? You know you are supposed to do your part as a Guardian, right? I have the facts but you have the feelings, memories and thoughts."

I knew my partner was right. And so, I dived in as I kept my eyes on her. Emersyn's long, curly red hair covered her pale shoulders so perfectly, that she didn't even need to wear that simple blue sweater for warmth. Her flowery dresses were an amazing choice for her signature outfit, and her smile was the most dazzling part of her outfit. Well... I still don't know which one was brighter, her beautiful smile or her sparkling blue eyes. I could've asked Willow about a brief description on her hopes and fears, but there was no need. I was her Guardian after all, I had the ability to read her thoughts and comprehend her feelings. An ability that Willow lacked. And after doing so, my image of her had changed a little. She was still one of the most beautiful humans I've ever seen, but she had a heavy heart. She had been carrying a lot and she wasn't planning on letting any of those things go any time soon.

"You have an interesting look on your face. I've never seen any angel look at a human the way you do, Ash." the flying creature pointed out while smirking.

I stopped staring at Emersyn and looked at my assistant.

"Of course, I need to know everything there is to know about her! Technically, Guardian Angels are there from the very first day. I have to digest 17 years of her life in very little time so we can get to work! We have a year to help her out. I've looked into her heart and wow...it's dark and heavy... I didn't know someone so pure could be hiding such things..." I confessed while pushing one string of hair off her face so she could be more comfortable while writing. I then turned around to keep talking to my partner.

"A love interest is not going to help in this situation... among the things I've seen in her heart, the one that worries me the most is that she doesn't like herself... that's why our plan is to help her see her worth. That's our main goal in this mission, Willow."

"Noted. Do you think those dark things can become big obstacles in our mission?" asked the sheep with concern.

"I don't think it can get any darker than that, so I think we're good!" I exclaimed while putting both my hands on my hips.

"Are you sure about that, Wing boy?" asked a honeyed voice that was coming from under the girl's bed.


	5. The monster under the bed.

"Willow! Don't scare me like that!! And what happened to your annoyingly cute voice?!" I exclaimed, a little confused.

My partner, who was as shocked as I was, floated towards me and said, "it wasn't—wait a minute. YOU THINK I'M ANNOYING?!"

We started babbling a few words to each other when we saw a feminine red hand coming from under the girl's bed.

"Sheepy, what is that?" I asked in a tremulous tone.

Willow was hiding and shivering behind me while it mumbled the words "IT CAN'T BE!! IT'S JUST A LEGEND!! THEY DON'T EXIST!!"

After seeing how scared it was, I knew what the thing under the bed was. I prayed for it to be anything but what I had in mind. But it was hopeless. The monster under the bed is very real, and every human has one. We don't exactly call them monster thought. We prefer the term demons.

Oh! Right! You humans have no idea about the legend! ...my bad! Let me explain a little. God created angels, and they were commanded to love and protect humanity. One of them, you may know him as Lucifer, refused and he was kicked out of the celestial kingdom. He became, what we call, a "fallen angel"; angels that revolt and are cast out of Heaven. Lucifer is now the king of Hell, and the rest of the fallen angels are his army, aka demons. So, like God has a Guardian Angel for each of you, Lucifer has a demon for you as well. Personally, I thought the demon-under-the-bed story was just a myth. But after seeing the hand, I knew it was more than real.

The hand disappeared for a short minute, and then, a woman's body was sitting on the bed next to Emersyn. She had silky, short, dark hair and glimmering black and white eyes. Her fingernails were so long that they could have been claws in disguise. And her red skin was what gave it away, in light of demons having colored skin tones like red, orange, purple and so many others, while us angels opt for more pure colors, similar to human skin tones. Her pointy horns were tangled in her hair. Nevertheless, they were still noticeable. She was wearing a revealing blood red dress, to match her skin tone. Despite her intentions not being pure, she sure looked like it from where I was standing.

Another fun fact about these nasty creatures is that they care very little about their vessels. Unlike Angels, when they decide to go down to Earth, they choose demonic possession as their means of transportation. Angels are not allowed to take control over humans like that. Free will, remember? But these guys, they don't care! They go from one body into another like if they were picking the perfect sweater for their outfit. However, they have another option if they don't feel like possessing someone. They go down in their original form, with their colored skin, their horns, and their colorful eyes. They are not as careful as angels; they want Hell to be exposed! They are hoping that by revealing themselves they might gain more followers, and make the world a darker place, a place that belongs in nightmares and Hell. Oh! You must be wondering about the demonic mist I talked about before! Well, that mist is the oldest trick in the book for them. They often use it when they want to mess with people without going through the whole mess that is possessing someone. That's why the man I saw was struggling. He wasn't fully possessed by that demonic being. If he had been possessed, none of this would've been possible.

"Do you really think... you can undo all the things that I've done?" asked the demoness while she snickered and slowly walked towards me.

I believe she ignored the concept of personal space, because I could feel her breath on my face while she kept on talking to me.

"Listen, Wing Boy. You have a very cute vessel," said the woman while running one of her hands through my messy brown hair, "but... how unfortunate would it be if something bad happened to it?" she asked sarcastically while almost covering her mouth with her hand.

With her strong, red arms, she pushed me into the chair that was near the girl's desk and she slowly sat on my lap.

"Now, why would something bad happen to me if I'm protected by God himself?" I questioned the terrifying lady with a confident smirk on my face.

She moved her face towards mine once again, touched my lips with her lips but didn't get to kiss them. And while being only two millimeters away from my mouth she whispered, "If you interfere with my plans, I will rip out your wings and hang them next to these posters. You may be cute, but if necessary, I can kill you in less than a second, Wing Boy".

She slowly got up and started walking back to the bed.

"You can't beat me, Angel!" said the lady while fixing her makeup on the girl's mirror. "I've been around since the day she opened her eyes. I know her better than she knows herself. I got in her head; you see, I don't think I'm ready to leave just yet. That other buzzkill was aware of my intentions, so I got a few friends to get rid of him."

Willow, who was still terrified, looked at me and mouthed the word _Barachiel_ , which made sense now that I think about it.

"Why are you telling me all this if I'm just another angel? Barachiel might be gone, but I'm not going anywhere. I am here to protect her!" I screamed at her in rage.

She did not look scared at all, as if I weren't powerful enough to be her competition. "Well, Wing Boy, that's the thing. I don't know why I'm telling you. There's something about you... something that killjoy didn't have... and I can't quite put my finger on it..." replied the evil lady as she touched my lower lip with her index finger. "But I'll figure it out before you even attempt to put little Em in the right path... Unless... You've changed your mind..." questioned the woman while cornering me in the teenager's bedroom.

"Why do you think I would do such a thing?" I answered while escaping from that corner.

"As I said, you are not like the other douchebags. So, I assumed that if I gave you a little taste, you would let me win... I always forget how boring angels are."

"A little taste?"

"What was it? One year? HAHAHAHA! GOOD LUCK WINGS!" Laughed the woman before disappearing under the bed once more.

After she crept beneath the furniture, I looked at the girl, who was still writing on her notebook as if nothing had happened. Willow was scared to death, for it knew that the lady was never really gone.

"I-I-I have Barach-chiel's notes on Em's d-d-demon." said my little friend as it stopped trembling. It let out a big sigh followed by the information on the demoness.

"Her name is Cobra. It says here that her work may seem insignificant at first, but that it's all part of _something bigger_... What do you think that means?"

But I wasn't really listening to Willow since I couldn't get Cobra's words out of my head. _"you are not like the others", "you are different"_. What did she mean by that? And how did she know that I only had one year to get the job done!? I wanted to stop thinking about her and all the things she had said, in case she was still there, reading all my thoughts and laughing at my worries. Can demons read angel's thoughts?

"ASHER!! ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME!?" Willow shouted in its high-pitched voice.

"Yeah, yeah, something big, got it! Oooooookay! We got 365 days to get this girl on the right path, I believe we can make it in less than 4 months, what do you say?"

Willow squinted at me and said, "You weren't really listening, were you?"

I laughed nervously and told my companion we had all night to catch up with Barachiel's notes.

"But first, I'm going to give out my first sign!! A DREAM!!"

Even though I was really excited about it, Willow wasn't even surprised.

"Wow... a dream.... How... biblical..." said the little thing.

"Ha ha ha! Shut up, Sheepy."

I waited a few minutes for her to brush her teeth, change her clothes and get in the bed. And when the time was right, I covered her head with both my hands and thought of Love, of happiness, of family, of friends. I gave her a dream in which they all told her how loved she was and how important she was in everyone's life. The kind of dream people wake up from with a warm smile and a happy heart. Now, I know human dreams tend to be more crazy and inexplicable, but sometimes they are simple and understandable, just like this one.

"Aaaaaw that was really sweet Ash." exclaimed Willow in a calming voice.

I thanked the tiny animal, and then we read Barachiel's journal until Em woke up for her first day as a junior in high school.


	6. Whitewater High.

Willow and I had been reading the angel's comments for hours. We had discovered how calculating and unscrupulous Cobra actually was, but we didn't get to understand what she had in mind for the teenage girl. 

"Enough about Cobra! Look! The sun is coming up. Should we wake her up or something?"

"I think they have robots that do that."

"Not robots. Phones. And sometimes they don't work."

"How do you know that?"

I ignored my partner as I opened the girl's window, letting the warm autumn breeze dance around the colorful bedroom before landing on her pillow. A quiet smile appeared on her freckled face as she slowly tried to get rid of the sleep in her eyes.

"Okay then, we could give her another sign of positivity before starting her day... what do you say, Willow? OH! I KNOW!! WHAT ABOUT A GUT FEELING?! I LOVE THOSE! I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO TRY ONE!" I remember screaming with excitement as I kept on jumping up and down.

Gut feelings are one of the easiest signs a Guardian Angel can send. I'm going to walk you through it; basically, an angel just sits or stands next to the human, and they start to guide them, using their own words. THEY LITERALLY TALK TO THEIR HUMAN! You guys call it gut feelings, but it is actually us! Guiding you! Remember Pinocchio? Well, Jiminy Cricket was his Guardian Angel... I think... Never really understood that part... Anyway, you get the picture. Whenever you feel you are doing something wrong, or when you feel in your gut you are right or heading towards what's right, that's us!! So, don't ignore it! Now, before you say that we are putting ideas in your head, let me clarify that we are not doing that. We are just supporting your morally good ideas when you are not confident enough to do it yourself. We will always be there to guide and support you. And that's exactly what I told little Em that morning. I remember it as if it were yesterday. She was brushing her hair in front of the mirror, while she was looking out the window and into the sea. The sunlight covered every inch of that coast in the most majestic way, and the seagulls couldn't stop playing between the clouds. Em was smiling at the view, but she still had Cobra giving her bad vibes about her first day of high school.

"We both know you are going to get that math teacher you don't like, the one who is always asking you to give him your homework and then he grades you on it. Not to mention Lorene will probably leave you to make new friends this year. I mean, why wouldn't she? It's your junior year of high school and she is still stuck with you? Oh, and how could I forget about the horrible Daphne! She is definitely leaving the worst for this year!! Oh Sweetie! This is going to be your worst year yet! So many possibilities… I wonder how far you’ll go without crying. Probably not that long… Oh well, why don’t we wait and see?" said Cobra while she was playing with the girl's curls.

Em's smile began to fade slowly after having second thoughts about everything. I can recall some of the things that were running through her head after Cobra's little number on her.

"I should change my outfit, and my hair, and I should also text Lore—NO! She'll just think I'm annoying...I COULD JUST STAY HOME! Yeah... That sounds good..."

I couldn't believe she was actually considering skipping school because of a few hypothetical situations! Sometimes I don't get humans.

"Listen Em; everything is going to be fine and you know it. Lorene is dying to see you! I can guarantee it! You guys have been friends since you learnt how to count, and this is the first day of your junior year. She is totally going to be there for you!! Now, regarding teachers and all those tedious subjects you hate, don't worry. Take one thing at a time and just try to enjoy this new year at Whitewater High. And as for Daphne, just ignore her. She is just messing with you cause she doesn't have a moral conscience, which sucks for her. Don't let her ruin this day for you. Just take a deep breath and relax! You are more than perfect, even when you think you are not, and this day won't be as bad as you first believed it would be. Trust me." I whispered into her ear while she was sitting on her bed with watery eyes.

Right after her gut feeling, she got up and walked to the mirror. She fixed her hair a little and pointing at her reflection she muttered "You've got this."

And with that sentence, Willow and I high fived and started mocking Cobra for a good eight seconds. Looking back at that moment, I believe our behavior was a little childish and out of place... NAAAH IT WAS THE PERFECT REACTION.

Emersyn went downstairs, took her roller-skates and headed to Forest Cloud, her family's diner, for some breakfast.

"Hey Ryan!" shouted Em right after opening the door. "How are you?"

The girl skated around the young waiter as she waited for an answer.

"Oh, good morning, Em! I bet you are super excited about junior year! What can I get you?"

"Ummm... pancakes!! With looooots of syrup please!" responded the cheery teenager while she kept on fidgeting and looking at her watch.

"Late again?" asked a redheaded woman from behind the counter while counting the money in the cash register.

"I'm right on time, Mom! I won't be late on my first day."

"And what did I tell you about roller skating here? No skates in the diner!!"

"RYAN, I'M TAKING IT TO GO!!" shouted the stubborn teenager, avoiding her mother's statement.

She grabbed the bag as fast as she could, kissed her mother on the cheek and waved at her friend, and she roller-skated her way to school.

During our trip to school, I remember noticing something about the dimension Willow and I were stuck in. We were not in the Guardian Angel's dimension, we were in a parallel dimension, one that is barely used by celestial beings. Maybe they sent us here to see if we would fit in with the rest of the angels? Man! I wanted to make new friends in this job besides the fake sheep!!

Going back to the girl, I had noticed she liked to listen to music while roller skating. It relaxed her. It gave her the confidence she thought she lacked. Besides, she had an exquisite taste in music. I was impressed! Her choice for this short trip was Heartbeat by The Fray. I knew most of the bands she liked since I occasionally listened to music while watching over the animals when I was a Nature Guardian... don't tell the Lordship...

"Everything will be fine, Em. Believe me." I whispered in her ear while she was going as fast as she could. And with a big smile from ear to ear she said, "it's just school! How hard could it be?"

She arrived at the school just in time for the first period. Without taking off her skates, she went straight to her locker where Lorene said she would be waiting for her.

"Girl! You're here yaaaaay!" screamed the joyful best friend while hugging her so tight she almost broke eight of her ribs.

"AH--LORENE! I CAN'T—BREATHE---"

"OH GOD! SORRY! JEEZ I KEEP DOING THAT!! I AM JUST SO HAPPY TO SEE YOU EM!!!" she cried while heading to hug her for a second time, which Emersyn stopped by saying,

"WAIT!... Let me take these off so I don't roll into my death hahaha."

After taking her skates off, they both hugged as if they hadn't seen each other in decades, and started talking about how being juniors felt a little weird to them, how everything would change for them in the future and how lucky they were to still be friends.

"Aaaaw it's so nice that Em has a friend like Lorene! I can feel she has a kind soul!" exclaimed enthusiastic sheep.

"... I didn't know assistants could feel stuff like that... What else can you do, Willow?"

"OH, I AM SO GLAD YOU ASKED!!" screeched the tiny animal while taking out its cute glasses and a tiny, royal blue book with the word "MANUAL" written on the cover in italics and pink font.

"Ummm... Just like you, this job is a little new to me as well, so I'm still learning a few tricks. But my purpose is to help you out in all scenarios. I am at your service. Just say the word and I'll do it, Ash—"

"Okay then, shut up."

"HEY! I MAY BE YOUR ASSISTANT, BUT THERE IS NO NEED FOR YOU TO BE TREATING ME LIKE—"

"NO! WILLOW! LOOK!!" I hissed while grabbing its tiny jaw and pointing its small head on the opposite direction.

It was Cobra! I could see her lurking around the lockers, preparing to ruin one of the best moments Em was going to have that day. But surprisingly, her target wasn't Em, but a blonde teenage girl with an angry look on her face. Cobra made this girl trip over Em's roller skates, letting the chaos unfold.

"UGH! WHY WOULD YOU LEAVE YOUR SKATES IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HALLWAY? ARE YOU DUMB OR SOMETHING?!" yelled the girl with the high ponytail right at my human's face.

"I AM TERRIBLY SORRY UMM... wait... Do I know you?" apologized the ginger with a little confusion.

"No, you don't. And if you try to kill people by leaving your things laying around like this, I don't know if I even want you to know me."

The blonde baddie started picking her things off the floor while trying to avoid Em and Lorene.

"Haha, she's funny!" added Lorene, who was feeling a little left out.

To which the angry girl sent her a threat through her fiery glare.

"...but mostly intimidating....IN A GOOD WAY LIKE, YOU COULD JOIN THE WRESTLING TEAM OR SOMETHING, I-I DON'T KNOW, OR MAYBE CHEERLEADERS? SOOO MANY GOOD CLUBS HAHAHAHA!"

"Lor, stop! You always start yelling when you want to make a good first impression." whispered Em while elbowing her best friend.

"I know...sorry... I just— It's a new year and we shouldn't start it like this... Would you mind having lunch with us today? If you don't have any plans, we would love to have you... ummmm..."

"Rozella... but you can call me Roz. I'm sorry... I tend to come off as a rude girl sometimes... I just want to fit in, you know?"

Emersyn let out a soft chuckle, and while putting one of her arms around Roz she replied with, "Yup, I totally get what you mean. We don't really fit in this school, if I'm being honest. I'm Em, the crazy violin girl with roller skates stuck to her feet who works at Forest Cloud. And this is Lorene, a hopeless romantic who has the ability to hug you until you explode and who will always have your back no matter what!"

Lorene smiled and waved at her as if she were meeting her for the very first time. The trio laughed a little and then ended up talking and getting to know the new girl a little more. They found out they shared most of their classes that day, which made their smiles grow wider.

"Well, we dodged a bullet there, didn't we?" giggled Willow while playing with one of the lockers.

But in spite of our small victory, I was still observing Cobra's actions, as she was one crafty evil being. I noticed she was looking at Daphne and later started heading towards her. When she was close enough, she leaned in and whispered something in her ear. Without even blinking, the popular bully walked straight to Em and her friend group.

"Hey simpleton! I see that summer hasn't done any wonders on you! Bummer. You are still the same failure you have always been... that's just sad! Why don't you go clean some tables? Since it's the only thing you are able to do for money!" jeered Daphne while making a silly handshake with one of her minions.

"Wow... I'm sorry, I'm new here, how old are you? Cause those insults weren't even half good. And that handshake? Darling... that's just sad!" mocked Roz trying to defend her new friend.

"Besides, I bet you can't even clean your own kitchen table. So, shut it!" stated Lorene after powerfully flipping her hair at the mean girl, which made her squint her eyes in anger.

"You are one to talk, fandom freak. What did you do this summer? Stayed in your room watching Jane the Virgin for the 17th time? Isn't sad that Lorene is always shipping people... but she can't be shipped with anyone?"

Lorene's self-esteem was strong, but Daphne's words always found a way to make it fall down to the ground. The fangirl said nothing, giving the bully a moment to gloat on her so-called triumph. But Emersyn wasn't going to let her treat her best friend like that.

"Well, at least she can recognize a ship when she sees one. She will find an amazing guy who will treat her like the queen she is, while you will be here, gossiping about it since you won't be able to experience the real thing yourself if you keep this bullying thing going. It's something to think about." Replied the roller skater with a clever smile on her face.

Daphne started blaming her minions for not defending her, as Lorene was traumatizing Roz with her silly victory dance.

The powerful friend group started giggling and talking about how awesome that was while they headed to their first class.

"WOOOW! I knew Roz had an inner badass inside, BUT I WASN'T EXPECTING A COMEBACK FROM EM!! Sometimes, I wish I could feel hunger so I could enjoy popcorn in moments like this! Blimey the amount of drama!!" exaggerated my winged friend while pretending to faint for a little while. "I wasn't expecting that reaction from Roz though.", was the last sentence to its little speech, to which I cleverly replied with, "Yeah, that girl has a good heart... she just needed a little push..."

Willow's fake fainting came to an end and after flying straight to my face it screamed, "YOU GAVE A SIGN TO ROZ?! IS THAT ALLOWED?!"

I pushed the little guy away from my face once again and I explained what I had done.

"Daphne only said those things to Em cause Cobra influenced her. AND UGH I JUST WANTED TO GO DOWN THERE AND FIGHT FOR HER!!... But I can't do that..." I muttered as I gracefully touched the marks on my arm. "So instead, I did the same thing she did, but with Roz, and it worked out wonderfully! Em even fought back for Lorene! I was shocked by that as much as you were. Cobra may be a cunning little demon, but we are better than her. And now that sending signals to other humans is part of the game plan, you bet your little cute butt we are going to win this thing!!"

"Asher... Should I be scared of what you are planning?"

"She said I wasn't like other angels, and she is right. I'm her worst nightmare." 


	7. Forest Cloud.

I've noticed that time is different on Earth as it is in Heaven. You guys are really impatient, but you barely have to wait for the things you want. I had been waiting centuries for this opportunity while these rebellious teenagers couldn't even wait a few hours to go back home. The bell finally rang, and the kids ran away from the educational building as fast as they could, as if they were escaping from damnation itself. Little Em was not in a rush as the rest of the students. She waved her friends goodbye and roller skated her way back to Forest Cloud, as it was time for her shift.

"Willow, what does your book say on Forest Cloud?" I questioned the little guy while I used my feet as roller skates in order to keep up with the violin girl.

"ummm... yeah... it says here it's the family's diner, and that Em has wonderful memories of this place. She works as a waitress on Mondays and Wednesdays after school and she has a work friend named Ryan, the guy we saw this morning. Whenever she is at Forest Cloud, she feels safe and loved. She likes getting to know people who come to eat her dad's food, and doing homework there relaxes her." was the answer the tiny creature provided.

Em stopped listening to Daughtry, one of her favorite bands, and after taking off her skates, she put on her blue apron and climbed up the stairs to the diner.

"I'M HERE!!"

"You are late." exclaimed her 16-year-old brother after abruptly leaving the table he was waitering at. "I'm supposed to be at baseball practice! YOU KNOW THIS, EMERSYN!! YOU ALWAYS DO THIS!"

"I'm sorry Zach! I had to talk to the principal about roller skating in the halls. Can you believe he is actually considering it? I can't believe—"

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR STUPID ROLLER SKATES, EM!!" snapped her brother while huffing and puffing away from his older sister.

Em's eyes started to water a little. Getting screamed at can do that to a young girl, I guess. But she took a deep breath and went to the table her brother was waitering.

"I apologize for the interruption. May I take your order?" questioned the polite redhead while looking for her notepad and pen in her pocket. After talking to the hungry customers, she darted away to the kitchen where her father was and explained the order to him.

"I'm on it, kiddo! How was school? Anything interesting happened?" her father asked, filled with curiosity. To which little Em told him about Roz's spirit and how she defended her after only two minutes of knowing her. I still don't know why she kept her comeback to Daphne a secret. It's definitely something to be proud of! But what can I do? It's her choice, I guess. All in all, she liked her first day, despite the encounter with Daphne. Her father congratulated her while giving her the food for the table she was serving.

"Here you go! Two coffees, one omelet, one orange juice, one apple juice, three toasts with jam and butter on the side and a tiny fruit salad. Try not to drop it this time, Em! Your clumsiness is making us lose customers!!" insisted the big man while carefully placing the food on her tray.

"Don't worry, dad! I've been practicing. Look!!" bragged the young woman as she sashayed her way back to the table near the window. She was almost there when she missed her step and started to fall.

"EM! CAREFUL!!" I screamed while pushing Willow out of the way. I dashed my way to her, and I caught her right before she could hit the ground. I stared into those eyes for a moment. Those deep blue eyes, as blue as an emperor butterfly. Her heart was beating as fast as the beat to the songs she likes, and her breathing was going at the same speed. It might have been milliseconds to her, but they were minutes to me. Minutes of appreciating her delicate eyelashes and her golden freckles. 

"PHEW! THAT WAS CLOSE!... Here's your food. Enjoy!" stated the girl as she fixed her hair and smiled nervously.

"Nice catch, partner!" congratulated Willow with a funny expression on its face.

"Yeah... it would have been nice if she had noticed me... being in separate dimensions sucks!"

Em was constantly tripping and stumbling over everything, so I tried to catch her most times. Or at least make the fall less painful for her. I was stunned by the fact that she only fell when she wasn't wearing her skates. It would be more understandable if she fell down while skating. But that wasn't her. She fell down while walking, as if it were a difficult challenge or something. The bright side about this is that, despite falling all the time, she barely gets hurt.

"OH GOSH! DID YOU SEE THAT?!" hissed Em at her dad while slowly returning to the kitchen.

"I was almost sure you were going to fall... you have a guardian angel taking care of you, sweetie."

"Pfff not even close! SHE HAS A NATURE GUARDIAN!!" mocked my buddy as it giggled around the room.

"Shut up! You are not even a real sheep!"

"Hey! No need to be rude! Besides, I'm not lying!" added the creature trying to apologize.

While Willow and I kept on making fun of each other, Mrs. Howell entered the room a little worried and imposed a question.

"Do you know where Zach is? I keep trying to call him and he won't pick up! I'm starting to worry a little... It's pretty dark outside and I don't know if he was going to do something after baseball practice, or if he has a ride... WHY ISN'T HE PICKING UP?!?!"

"That's cause he doesn't have his phone." answered the sassy teenager while pointing at the counter where the phone was.

"OH NO!! WHAT IF HE NEEDS SOMETHING!? WHAT IF SOMETHING HAPPENED TO HIM!!" quaked the woman while falling into her husband's arms.

"Em, go pick up your brother and we'll meet you back at the house for dinner, okay?" suggested the man while holding the scared woman who was on the verge of tears.

"No problem! Don't worry mom. I'm sure he's fine. See you at home!" said the girl while adjusting her skates and gliding away from the friendly diner.

She put on her headphones and pressed play on her favorite playlist. Secrets by OneRepublic started to sound in her ear canal, and she felt as if she were in one of those teen movies, which she was, she was in her movie, she just didn't know it. The cold autumn breeze was hugging her red curls as if they were passionately dancing with each other, and Em felt an amount of freedom she only feels when she skates. There was something about the streets in Florence at that time of the night, they were peaceful and not as scary as one might think. The lights from the houses lighted her way while she was sliding carelessly and as fast as she could. She started to slow down a little, for she was about to arrive at the baseball court.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, everything about that day went perfectly. She made a new friend, who later defended her against one of the meanest girls in the whole town, she also defended Lorene and gained a little more confidence because of it, she loved her new teachers and how being a junior felt, and most importantly, she didn't fall after tripping at the diner! I would take the credit for this one... but that wouldn't be so angelic of me. After feeling thankful about her great first day, she opened her eyes and stared at the starry night above her red head.

She kept on roller skating when suddenly, someone crashed into her! It was the first time I saw her fall while skating. If I'm being honest, I was a little worried about that. Fortunately for her, she fell on top of the guy who crashed into her. It looked as if they were hugging but they were both in pain. This weird looking guy had dark curly hair, glasses and he gave off an artsy vibe. And for what I could see, the guy didn't know how to use his skateboard and he lost control and collided into Emersyn. There's a possibility that he tried to warn her, but she was jamming to her favorite tunes, so it was hopeless. Em stayed on top of the guy for a few seconds, until she realized what had just happened and then she snapped.


	8. Once we fall, we get back up.

"Ah!... crap!" belted the redhead as she pulled away from the stranger.

"I AM SO SORRY! ARE YOU ALRI—"

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?! DO YOU EVEN KNOW HOW TO USE THAT THING?"

The redheaded girl's anger was the only thing that helped her ignore the scratches on both of her knees.

"I AM REALLY SORRY!! Can I help you with anything? Maybe call someone? I don't know what to do, I've never been part of a crash haha..." said the dark-haired guy in a nervous tone as he painfully looked at the fresh cuts on his left arm, "You can use my phone if you want, I don't mind-"

"Just leave me alone." replied the girl with a frown on her face. She got up, leaving the guy who couldn't stop staring at her sitting on the ground, and skated away to go look for her little brother.

After arriving at the baseball court, she saw her sibling talking to a blonde girl who had a cute uniform. Em decided to get closer to them, and after doing so, she noticed Zach was talking to her new friend Roz!

"What is she doing here this late?" she mumbled to herself while still being far enough not to be heard.

"Zach! You forgot your phone at the diner and dad sent me to pick you up."

"I don't need you to pick me up. I'm 16, I think I can manage." grumbled the boy as he took his phone from the girl's hand.

"How was your game?"

"Better than my shift at the diner today." answered the teenager in a sarcastic tone, making the athletic girl laugh a little. Em wanted to reply, but she only gave him an intimidating glare, the kind siblings give to each other when they want to kill them.

"Do you guys know each other?" asked the skater in a polite tone.

"Oh, Yeah! Zach has been helping me with baseball. I'm new to the team and we've been training all summer." was Roz's answer.

"I see... Well, so happy you get along with my brother, Roz!"

"Wait a minute. YOU are the annoying sister?! Wow... I was not expecting that!"

"...Annoying sister, huh?", asked Em while raising one of her eyebrows and threateningly glancing at the young baseball player. 

"hahaha well... we should get going, right Em? See you on Wednesday Roz!"

After the awkward goodbye, they sat down at the bus station since Em's legs were in too much pain to walk or skate back home.

"What the hell happened to you?" asked her brother without taking his eyes off his phone's screen.

"This idiot who didn't know how to skate crashed into me and I fell. I'm fine but my knees are killing me!"

Her brother opened his bag and took out some cloth and other medical equipment. He carefully picked up his sister's legs, started to clean her scratches and then proceeded to apply some bandages. Em knew her brother was quick-tempered. However, she also knew he had a big heart. Not to mention how grateful she was that her brother forgot his phone and not his bag with all those things!

"So, how do you know Roz?" questioned the boy as he finished taking care of her wounds.

"We met today before first period. The funny thing is that I thought I gained a new bully at first. You see, I left my skates in the middle of the hallway, which made her trip and fall down. She got mad at me but then we started talking and we ended up becoming friends."

"Ha, yeah... Roz is the toughest and coolest girl in the team."

"Yeah, I like how confident she is! Plus, she defended me when Daphne came! So that's cool."

"Wait. Daphne keeps messing with you? Hasn't she done enough?!" exclaimed the sophomore in anger, to which Em raised her shoulders as a sign of being uncertain. "You have to start fighting back! What if Daphne comes and you are by yourself? What are you going to do then? Cry? Run away? You need to put an end to this thing."

Zach was definitely a brutally honest kind of guy. Luckily for Em, the bus came before she could provide him with an answer, or even tell him about what she did that day. They arrived home short after, where their parents were a little worried about them as it was almost 11pm.

"Is it just me, or did this day seem longer than the last one?" said Willow while sitting down on the girl's bed.

"Yeah... there were lots of things and situations to learn from... like Roz and Daphne..."

"Her family too. Oh! And the skateboard dude!" added my partner.

"Oh yeah! Them too. We have to be careful though. Just as we are analyzing these situations to use them in the future, I'm 78% sure Cobra is doing the same thing."

"What is the other 22%?"

"Hopefully, she was busy doing some weird demonic thing and she missed the whole thing."

"... I don't see that happening, dude." speculated Willow while patting my back slowly.

"Yeah... you might be right."

Em changed into more comfortable clothes and then decided to write down a few things on her school planner. According to Barachiel's notes, she took school pretty seriously, even if she hated almost every subject, because she didn't want to fail. As a result, she decided to be one step ahead in every single thing the teachers assigned her. I still wonder why they take school so seriously. It's not like they are going to be in school forever. Why don't they relax a little? One of the many mysteries of teenagers I guess.

I had decided to read her thoughts and see what we were dealing with, as I believed she needed another angel sign to help her sleep better.

"Zach is right. I'm not strong enough to fight for myself. I mean, I can defend my friends, but when it comes to me... I just... I shut down, do nothing... I'm pretty sure Daphne is going to do some kind of scene to embarrass me in the future. She likes to make a scene. And what if Roz ends up hating me because of all the things Zach told her about me over the summer!? I can't lose friends. I only have Lorene, and I feel like she is also leaving me for her other friends... what if I end up all alone in Forest Cloud? I bet that is probably my future..."

WHY WAS SHE HAVING SO MANY NEGATIVE THOUGHTS AFTER HAVING SUCH A GREAT DAY?! I did not understand anything about that situation... Well, at least not at first. After telling Willow what I found inside her head, I saw Cobra choosing the songs from her playlist. (Yes, if we feel like it, we can control your playlist whenever you hit Shuffle.) She was influencing her through music! THAT WAS GOING TO BE MY SIGN!! Breathe Me by Sia was Cobra's first pick, which made Em frown as her eyes started to tear up a bit. She started to feel a knot in her throat as she tried to fight her tears, telling her reflection to stop being like that and bottle up everything she was feeling at the moment. I could feel she wanted to go to bed and cry herself to sleep, like she usually did, as stated by Barachiel's notes. I tried to take over the music choices, but Cobra wouldn't let anyone get near the girl.

"Come any closer and I'll make it even worse, Wing Boy!" threatened the demon.

I couldn't take my chances, I WANTED TO GO TO THAT DIMENSION SO BAD!! SHE NEEDED A FRIEND! A LOYAL ONE!! But they wouldn't let me... So, I waited until she decided to go to bed, which I knew was the moment when she would stop listening to music. She laid on her back and stared at the ceiling. I could see how she didn't fight back her tears this time, since they were racing down her freckled face like raindrops on a car window. She welcomed the darkness of as she kept on overthinking every single thing about her day and about her life in general. Her mind was going too fast, even for me.

"Are all humans this complicated?" I whispered to Willow as we observed the sad girl.

To which it replied, "And it's only our first day."

I groaned softly and then noticed she picked up her phone, as she decided to cry while listening to music. THIS WAS MY CHANCE! COBRA WAS TOO BUSY CELEBRATING HER ACCOMPLISHMENT! Because of this, I swooped in and picked a song. By Your Side by Tenth Avenue North. I love how humans have the ability to write songs that are so relatable! It fit perfectly. I saw how she almost skipped my choice, since she thought she'd pressed on it by accident or something. But after listening to those lyrics, something had changed. Even though she kept on crying, I honestly believe those were happy tears, or perhaps tears of relief... I wanted her to feel loved, she deserved it. She needed to know she wasn't alone... I'm sure something about the song made her forget about all her worries for a moment, and she fell asleep with a little smile on her wet face.

"Nice choice, Asher. TAKE THAT YOU DEMON!!" celebrated the little animal.

Cobra screamed fearsomely and fire came out of her mouth, which scared Willow so much it flew into another dimension for a little while.

"Don't even think about messing with me, Angel!"

"Oh, but where's the fun in that?" I commented with a defying look in my yellow eyes.

"You will regret this!"

"Bring it on, Horns!!"


	9. It was all Yellow.

September turned into February, and Cobra and I were in a constant duel. But that's exactly what we were supposed to do. From the first moment someone is born, there's always an angel and a demon who are at war. Fighting and trying to make their person listen to them. And that's what those past few months had been for me and Willow; a never-ending battle between us and Cobra. All of these battles between celestials depend on the human, there's no doubt about that. Some of them barely listen to their demons and trust their gut, while others tend to listen more to their tormentors, making them feel more insecure about things they should embrace, or even overthink little things that nobody notices. Em was just like that. An overthinker. I remember how Willow and I kept telling her how amazing she was doing with violin lessons, while Cobra kept bursting our bubbles.

"Why don't you just quit? I mean, come on! You've been trying to get the song right for hours now. Can't you see you're useless? This is clearly a waste of time and money. Oh, I can't wait to see your mom's face when she finds out you're quitting! She's going to be so disappointed... well, I bet she already is, I mean, look at you! 17 and a complete failure."

Her upsetting words were always on the girl's mind, swimming around like annoying sea monsters. I hated that. Why was she listening to that malicious woman? Weren't my words better than hers? And I hate to admit it, but all the things she said to her made me believe she was talking to me sometimes. Why don't you just quit? ...You've been trying... a complete failure... I even started doubting if angels had demons of their own to torment them just like humans. Because that's exactly how I felt whenever I saw poor Em, suffering in silence while staring out the window hoping to find a way to ignore those disturbing thoughts of hers. And that's when we came in.

"Partner, you need to say something." insisted the sheep as it looked at the teary teenager.

I put all my worries aside, for I had to make sure this kid didn't believe that red-skinned demon.

"Listen. You are not useless. Nobody is. You don't exist to be used. You were brought to this world to be unapologetically yourself. Please remember that. And as for the violin, take a break. You've been studying like a maniac for all your exams and that's why you can barely play today. I know that deep down you know that all the things you've been thinking are lies. You are not a disappointment. Not to your friends, not to your family, not even to God himself... if you believe in all that, not gonna pressure you..."

"Asher, I don't think you--"

"I got it!" I whispered back at the tiny animal before continuing my speech, "And you are a great violin player, Em. But you're also human. And humans tend to get tired. So, why don't you relax for a while? Forget about school and these music sheets! You deserve it." I said as I pushed the hair off her face, revealing those glimmering blue eyes of hers. Those eyes that would never in a million years look in my direction.

The girl got up, and with the same sad expression she had on her face, she closed her curtains, put away her instrument and sat on her bed. She took her phone and fell down the rabbit hole you humans call social media.

"Why isn't she smiling?" questioned Willow, "Can humans smile on the inside?"

"I can't remember the last time we've seen her smile... what was it? Her birthday? Christmas?"

"Definitely one of those two. But why? Aren't the gut feelings working?" thought my partner as it sat next to the emotionless violin player.

"Funny. I thought the angel would get this one." commented the demon as she started messing with the girl's instagram feed, making sad quotes appear on her screen. "It's a little something you like to call free will. She relates more to my words, to the truth. You're just filling her head with heart-warming lies, lies she won't ever believe. And since she has the freedom to follow whoever she wants, she's choosing to make the right choice. Gotta love free will, right?"

"You've done enough damage for today, why don't you just leave her alone? She needs a break. She can't even cry! You made her cry for two months straight and now she feels nothing at all!"

"Can humans become robots?"

"NOT NOW, WILLOW!"

"Hey, this is my job, Wings. And not only do I like my job, but I'm also extremely good at it. So I'll stop when I feel like it's time to stop. You've seen how dark and heavy her heart is. And you've also seen there's a little bit of hope left in there. Well, I can't leave when my job is not done."

"I get it. We all have jobs. But just like any other job, you need to take a break from it. Leave the kid alone and go torture any newcomers back in Hell. Take it as a reward for all the good work you've done today."

"I know what you are doing. You're trying to get rid of me so you can try to make the girl smile or something. Well, you're welcome to try. But see this face?" added Cobra as she stared at Emersyn's mournful face, "Get used to it. Cause there's only one way this kid is headed, and it's down my path."

And as she opened a glowing red portal, she walked towards the flames of Hell, leaving me and my assistant with the troubled teenager in the quiet bedroom.

"How did we miss this? I thought we were winning..." I pondered as I observed the drained girl scrolling with her left thumb through the shiny screen.

"I don't think Cobra is winning... I mean, sure, she's making her feel miserable with little things but there were many good things as well!"

"I know but--"

"Her friendships are growing stronger every day! And not just because of the signs we've been sending, but also because Roz, Lorene and Em have lots of things in common! They now have inside jokes and lovely memories to look back on. As for her family, there's a bit of tension, but I think that is normal for a teenage girl. Cobra might be having a few victories now, but we've been strengthening her relationships. And that, my friend, is going to be a victory of our own in the near future." Explained Willow with a cute smile on its fluffy face.

There's a bit of tension. Those were its words. I'm not saying my partner made a wrong assumption, but I think it was more than just a bit. Things with her brother Zach were still a little complicated after that night at the bus stop. I could tell since he spent most days at the baseball court, the place where he could go and relax. Her mom was still the overprotective and judgmental woman with a soft soul, and her dad kept encouraging her despite every mistake she made along the way. I did agree with Willow when it came to the signs though. I was so proud of the ones I'd been sending her over the past few months. Apart from the songs, we've sent gut feelings to her and her friends, a few quotes through social media and I even tried a thing with a dove that didn't really work out... I just scared her a little... I guess the biblical thing wasn't a great plan after all... But she still paid attention to some of them!! And even if she ignored a few and decided to listen to Cobra's advice, I still wanted to believe she was better than a few months ago.

But if there's one thing my signs couldn't stop was her tears. For almost two months, she had been crying herself to sleep, completely out of the blue and with no specific reason. That's the thing I didn't understand, her crying. Why would Cobra want to tire her out like that? Why wouldn't Em listen to me? I kept trying to read her thoughts, but Cobra kept on blocking me. And maybe a small side of me didn't want to accept it, but Em was different... and not in the way I wanted it to be... it was because of Cobra's evil doing. It felt as if Em was walking down both paths; sometimes, it felt as if she was living one of the best days of her life, until she came back home, to those colorful four walls she calls a bedroom. A kaleidoscopic prison where Cobra would use her as her favorite doll. She might have improved her relationships with her friends and family, but there was something else, I was certain. She felt trapped inside her own room, she barely played her violin, and she was behind on most of her schoolwork... All those months, she had been faking it on the outside, while she was slowly falling apart on the inside. I remembered her dark and heavy heart, and how Cobra mentioned she wasn't done toying with it. Could that fragile little heart get any darker and heavier? I thought it was impossible, but what if the demon tried to make one of my biggest nightmares come true?

I've been reading a few things about you humans, especially teenagers, and I've been connecting the dots with the celestial world. Whenever something good happens to you, it usually means we are managing things from behind the scenes. On the other hand, when bad things happen, you know it's not us, but the demons and their deceitful games and well-thought lies. Mental illness is one of their most popular accomplishments in the human world. Depression, schizophrenia, anxiety and so many others created to torture humans on Earth. Just like the gut feelings come from angels, these awful things come from demons. That tiny voice inside your head that keeps on saying mean things to you, trying to convince you of something you are not, THAT'S THEM! AND YOU HAVE TO FIGHT IT!!

I knew that was Em's problem after I got the chance to catch a quick glimpse at her thoughts. She felt unworthy of all the love her family and friends gave her, and every day she got more and more tired of everything related to her ordinary life. Not to mention Daphne, who was constantly making fun of her at school. Em believed she may never leave her alone, that she would always be there to turn a bad day into her worst one. The amount of guilt and hopelessness she was feeling because of her bully, was enough to make her feel as terrible as she was feeling. Demons tend to do that, they take one of your insecurities and they stretch it as far as they can, so that they can attack you from every possible angle.

The human in my charge was faking her own happiness, had a lack of motivation, interest and the ability to concentrate on anything at all. Emersyn was broken, and she wasn't exactly looking to be fixed.

After a few weeks of studying the girl's new habits and thoughts, I finally understood what the Lordship wanted me to do. Cobra was gradually persuading her to fall right into her crimson claws where she would make sure she couldn't escape, and Willow and I were the ones who had to save her, to help her see the light at the end of that dark tunnel the demon had trapped her in.

"Dad, can I skip my violin lesson today? I have this terrible headache and I honestly don't feel like going." beseeched the teenager while rubbing her eyes.

"Sure, honey. It's the third time this month... is everything okay?" replied his dad with a worried tone in his voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired I guess."

After Emersyn's answer, Willow started flying around me as it imitated the sound of a siren.

"WEE-oww-WEE-oww!! ASH! WE HAVE A PROBLEM! SHE SAID IT!! SHE SAID THE WORDS!!!"

"I KNOW! This is bad... WE NEED A BIG SIGN AND QUICK!! SOMETHING THAT WILL CHEER HER UP!! BUT WHAT?...."

Willow and I were freaking out at the girl's words, since those five letters formed one of the most terrifying words a Guardian Angel could hear. Humans have two versions of the words I'm tired: the one related to their sleeping habits and the other one. And Em had just used the latter. Cobra was in too deep and we needed to take her out of the girl's head if we wanted to point Em in the right direction.

Using all my strength, I examined every single thing on her head, but this time I knew what I was looking for. I needed to find the right thing to save her from the demoness' torture.

"AHA! I GOT IT!!" I exclaimed while I scurried my way next to the depressed teenager, who after mooching back to her bedroom decided to sit down at her desk and drown in her disheartening thoughts.

Right after having the idea, I made her drop her phone. Not to cause any damage, but to make her accidentally click on the song I needed her to listen to. World of Chances by Demi Lovato was the song that instantly transported Em to her happy place, at least for a little while. I knew for a fact this was the song she usually listens to when feeling hopeless. It's like a magic trick! She sang along, even picked up her stuffed animal and used it as a dance partner for a few seconds. She then sat down on her bed and looked out her window as the last few seconds of the song were blasting out of her speakers. Willow had a tiny smile on its face, a proud smile, one that faded rather quickly just like the girl's happy tune. Because as soon as the song ended, she went back to her suffering. She tried to distract herself by doing her history homework, but that only made things worse. Not only did she hate history, but she didn't understand a thing about it either.

"Nice song, but that wasn't the result I was expecting." admitted the sheep while looking at her with a sad look on its face.

"Don't worry, I'm not done. I'm just waiting..." I explained as I rubbed both of my hands together.

"Waiting for what?"

"I don't know if I'm supposed to do this or not, but I'm waiting for that poisonous demon to make her move on Em."

"WHY WOULD YOU WANT THAT?!"

"Shhhhh just trust me!" I mouthed so Cobra, who was there with us, wouldn't ruin my plans.

We heard the demon's high heels clacking on the floor as she approached the girl. She whispered something in her ear, short and simple, which was just enough to get the job done. And like a house of cards, the frail teenager broke down in tears, making the short-haired monster smile at her accomplishment. Then she turned around, flipped her hair and walked away, leaving behind the utterly broken girl.

"NOW LOOK WHAT YOU DID? SHE IS CRYING, ASHER! C R Y I N G! WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO NOW, HUH? I would suggest a hug, BUT SHE CAN'T EVEN FEEL WHEN I BLOW COLD AIR ON HER FACE, LET ALONE A HUG!" screamed Willow as its adorable face turned more and more red with every angry word that came out of its small mouth.

"I know. But there's something else in this situation that wasn't here before..."

"Huh?"

I pointed the window and after making an ethereal hand gesture towards it, Em turned around and faced it. She was stunned by a small animal who was softly tapping on the window with its tiny and fluffy paw. It was a small black cat, with big yellow eyes that could make anyone fall in love with its cuteness, and cottony black fur that was meant to be rubbed.

"Heeey little guy! ... What's your name?" asked the girl in a friendly tone while carefully opening her window.

The humble creature stared at her for a little while, and confidently jumped into her bedroom afterwards. Em started to play with it a little, and then she looked at the collar around its fluffy neck.

"Yellow... Nice to meet you Yellow! I'm Em."

"meow"

"I bet you don't have many friends if you were wandering around in Florence, huh?"

"...meow"

"Yeah, I feel you kitty." added the young girl while scratching the tiny animal's head.

Cobra was furious! She had Em right where she wanted her until I came up with this brilliant idea.

"You are going down, freak!"

"I'll be waiting here, darling!" I mocked while aggressively blinking at her.

The evil spirit frowned at me while the fire in her eyes only became more powerful. She let out a horrifying shriek and hid in another dimension for a while. We had definitely won that round.

"Okay, good job, but why did you have to wait for Cobra to attack?"

"Remember how the dove-thing didn't work out? Well, I believe it was because she wasn't going to appreciate or see it as a sign of hope. Even if I hated it, I needed Cobra to do her thing, I needed her to see this little guy as a sign. And look! It looks like they’re getting along just fine."

We both interrupted our conversation to appreciate how the human and the kitty made each other smile just by playing with each other.

"Okay, that's nice. But why a cat?" asked my partner, a little confused.

I told Willow about the girl's dream of owning a cat, and how her mom came up with a no-pet rule after 8-year-old Zach kidnapped three hamsters from their classmates to have a hamster zoo. Therefore, she would always have to keep Yellow hidden. This little furry creature was the new source of her happiness, she had to keep it safe. Thanks to this animal, she now felt her life was a bit more interesting. Besides, cats are cute. Who wouldn't like to have a cat appear on their window out of nowhere? Back when I was a Nature Guardian, I had discovered I had a soft spot for black cats. I knew she would be pleased by this furry kitten.

The weeks passed and the kitty was becoming more and more familiar with the teenage girl. Despite Cobra's failed attempts to possess the adorable pet, Em loved the little guy, and he helped her forget her sadness with every visit. It was her little secret. Not even her friends knew about the little buddy. Em was really good at keeping secrets, even the ones people trusted her with. Her own secrets were different, for she believed nobody cared about what she was hiding behind that dazzling smile of hers. But her yellow secret got exposed when the small animal wouldn't shut up. The meows were getting louder with every "quiet" that came out of the girl's mouth. The cat meowed so loud, that her dad discovered the truth.

"Who's this?" he asked after entering the girl’s room. If there is one thing I knew about Mr. Howell is that he was one of the biggest animal lovers in Florence. That’s why, without hesitating, he approached the redheaded teen, kneeled down and rubbed Yellow's belly. 

"This is Yellow. He's been visiting me for a few weeks now. He always knows how to cheer me up. And I know we have a rule, so I know mom won't let me keep it... but please don't tell her!" Implored the girl in a shy voice as the giant man played with the purring critter. I could feel how relieved her dad felt, for he believed the girl was hiding something bigger than a cat. Most of his worries faded away after realizing his daughter had a secret friend who she loved. He smiled while patting the girl on the head.

"Don't worry, I won't," he whispered, "but you should try finding the owner. Who knows? Maybe you make a new friend... a human one!"

"But... there's no contact information on the collar... just Yellow." replied Emersyn with disappointment in her blue eyes.

"Well then... go check out the animal shelter. Maybe you'll have better luck there, kiddo!"

Emersyn liked going to the shelter when she was a little girl. It was one of her happy places, filled with love, animals and hope. Her dad used to take her there every Friday after school to look at the animals on the window before heading back to the diner. The ironic thing was that now, the shelter was taking away her happiness, by returning Yellow to its rightful owner. The nerves were consuming her on the inside. She wanted to cry, to scream, to beg not to go to the shelter. But of course, she wouldn't let her true feelings show. And so, she hid them behind her stunning and soft smile.

That afternoon, she took the bus downtown and headed to the shelter. With every step she took, doubts and hypothetical situations ruled her mind once again.

"What if I go back home and tell dad I didn't find anything? I'm pretty sure he'll believe me. Plus, I really like spending time with Yellow. I'm not ready to say goodbye..."

After reconsidering all the other options, she understood it was for the well-being of her hairy friend, so she confidently opened the door and paced towards the front desk. She was ready to find Yellow's owner when she saw a familiar face. Emersyn accidentally dropped Yellow, who luckily landed on its feet, as she kept on gazing at the person in charge of the front desk in disbelief.

"Wow, it really is a small world." she muttered to herself as she picked the cat up and approached the familiar stranger.

  
  
  
  



	10. The animal shelter.

She had a hard time remembering where she knew the guy from, and then it hit her... It was the handsome stranger who needed more skateboarding lessons!

Cobra was hiding in the animal shelter, I believed she was possessing one of the barking dogs, or maybe the annoying parrots. I wasn't really sure where she was, but I could feel her sinful presence in the room. So, I decided I would pay extra attention, since this was something the girl needed to get done with no demonic interruption.

"Hello, I... I'm here because I need to find this little guy's owner." said the girl nervously while lifting the black cat high enough to cover her face with it.

The guy at the front desk let out a soft chuckle and then added, "You don't remember me, do you, Purple Skates?"

She obviously remembered him! He was the reason why she couldn't skate to school for two whole weeks!! Remembering those dreadful fourteen days, the girl let the anger get the best of her and her reply wasn't as nice as her first sentence.

"How could I forget you and your dumb skateboarding skills? My knees got terrible bruises and I had to take the bus to school for two weeks! I HATE THE BUS! AND DON'T CALL ME PURPLE SKATES!!" snapped the teenager.

"WELL EXCUSE ME, MISS IT'S-NOT-MY-FAULT! BUT IF YOU HADN'T BEEN LISTENING TO MUSIC, YOU WOULD'VE HEARD MY WARNING SINCE I WASN'T ABLE TO STOP!!!"

"WHY WERE YOU SKATEBOARDING IF YOU DIDN'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO STOP?!"

"IT'S CALLED PRACTICE, SWEETHEART!!"

"WELL, PRACTICE OR NO PRACTICE, YOU STILL CRASHED INTO ME AND I GOT HURT!"

The boy looked at her with regret in his eyes. And after thinking of his following words, he let out a sigh and continued.

"I am really sorry about that... if it makes you feel any better, I got these scars as a memory from that night," mentioned the guy while taking off his hoodie, exposing his left arm, "I tried to help you out... but you wouldn't let me..."

"I was... I was in a hurry because I had to pick up my brother and then BOOM! So, I got there late, and my parents were worried sick about us and--"

Em's rambling was stopped by the mysterious guy, who said, "You know what? Why don't we forget about this whole thing and start over? I'm Jason!"

The introverted teenager smiled, and while shaking the boy's hand she introduced herself.

"I'm Emersyn, but you can call me Em if you feel like it."

"Haha alright then Em, you said you needed information about this cute guy over here, is that right?" asserted the curly-haired guy while examining the animal with a curious face. A face that transported the boy back in time, one that showed more than curiosity to the girl's eyes.

"Yeah... umm... not to be rude but, is everything okay? You look like you're going to throw up or something I don't--" 

"Nono, I'm fine. It's just that... this is a weird coincidence... I found this cat and brought him here right after our little accident... weird right?"

"yeah... that's a little weird..."

Willow was amazed by Jason's story, but then squinted its eyes and slowly asked a question.

"Oh, but you already knew that didn't you?"

"Pfffff whaaaaat? How could I have known?!"

BUT OF COURSE I KNEW! I'M AN ANGEL!! I can sense stuff! And I felt that Em needed to be friends with this guy right after they collapsed. So, while she was slowly skating away that night, I saw him picking up little Yellow and I thought to myself, "the cat is the key!" However, I had to pick the perfect moment. And I believe that couldn't have gone any better.

"Anyway, I've been taking care of him for a few months now. I never found his owner, so he's been living here all this time. Suddenly one day, he disappeared and never came back. I'll admit, I got a little sad about it. And now you're here with Yellow and wow... you've just made my day ten times better!" exclaimed the boy with a big smile on his face, making the redhead look down as her face blushed a little.

"I know what you're doing!" announced the fake sheep in a singsong voice.

"I'm not doing anything! It's all her..." I confessed to him. And it wasn't a lie, it really was all her. Her dazzling smile and friendly charm are what kept their conversation going. Yeah, I might have used a cat to accomplish that, but she could've left it there and gone back home. But instead, she stayed talking to that nerdy guy Jason. 

"So... I believe Yellow is not the only one who doesn't have an owner."

"Oh, yeah! There's tons of animals here who don't have anywhere to go."

"Well, he is my friend, so I want to see where he's been living these past few months." requested the girl with a serious look on her freckled face.

"Really? Sure, I'll show you. THIS IS SO COOL! Come with me." instructed Jason as he adjusted his glasses after jumping over the counter.

He grabbed the little black cat, who was playing around a bookshelf, and then rushed to the front of the shelter where the window was, and Purple Skates was following close behind. He stopped when he reached a small fence that separated him from other animals. He had a unique expression on his face, similar to the one little kids have on Christmas morning after discovering the amount of presents under the tree.

"Look at all these animals! They were once alone in the world, roaming around the lonely streets of Florence, but we've given them another chance, a home, and, most importantly, we've given them love." rejoiced the animal lover as he occasionally glanced at Em, who was as moved about all that as he was. He then placed the dark-furred animal among the rest and sat down with them.

"It's amazing, Jason. I remember coming here with my dad when I was little. We used to stare at the bunnies in the window and make funny faces at them." chuckled the girl before adding, "But I never knew there were so many like Yellow... That means there could be more out there!" added Em while sitting next to her new friend, surrounding herself with all of those furry creatures.

"You're right. Maybe there are. Luckily for them, there are also people like you, who care enough to bring them into the shelter so we can help them."

The girl grinned while looking over the hopeful creatures in the shelter. They both played a little with the animals while they got to know each other a bit more. Willow's reactions were even more annoying than any other day, since it felt the same thing I felt the night of the crash; it felt how these two were meant to meet. 

"Look! Her smile! It's back! That boy knows how to make her smile." grinned my partner as it floated above them with love in its eyes.

"It wasn't the boy, Sheepy! Yellow made her smile first. And why did Yellow go to her window? Because of me! His jokes aren't even that funny. They're all bad puns and knock knock jokes!"

"Aaaw, is someone jealous?" 

"Jealous? Of a human boy?!"

"Is there something stronger than jealousy that only applies to angels? Cause I'm sure you might have it." joked the sheep before I started ignoring every word that came out of its silly mouth.

Both teenagers lost track of time as they were playing with all the rescued animals. And they kept on doing so until a young woman entered the shelter saying, "Hellooooo!"

"Oh, hi! Em, meet Olivia, she works at the shelter with me."

"Yeah and you're lucky I do! This place would be chaos without me!" exaggerated the girl while kissing Jason's cheek, which made Emersyn feel like a third wheel. Olivia was a beautiful girl, with long dark hair which was styled in a french braid, and she seemed to be as outgoing as the puppies that were jumping up and down in the shelter. She came in with a skateboard under her arm, which helped Em connect the dots: Jason and Olivia had met through their hobby, or perhaps they had met here, and she is teaching him how to skateboard. I believed it was the last one.

"Is there any coffee left?" inquired the energetic girl.

"I left a cup just for you, darling." answered the guy while grinning at the brown-eyed girl.

"You are the sweetest!"

Olivia hugged him till his organs nearly exploded and then headed to the room behind the counter to get that last cup of coffee. Emersyn saw this as her window and began to slowly walk backwards towards the door.

"Okay umm... it's getting late and I live near the coast so, I should get going."

"WAIT! Ahem-- I mean, here!" screamed the geek, trying to make the girl stay as he handed her a card with his phone number. "So that we can keep looking for those who need our help. Besides, you can come back to see Yellow whenever you want." he smirked at her as she was opening the door. She thanked him and then left.

She got home and told her dad everything that happened, and how she wasn't sure if she should text Jason or not. He encouraged her to do it as she could use a friend outside of school. She promised to think about it and slowly went up to her room. As she laid on her bed reliving everything that had happened that day, Willow's high-pitched voice started ringing in my ears once again.

"Sooooo... now what?"

"Now we wait, Sheepy."

"...and now?"

"Still waiting."

"...For what exactly?"

"Willow, we can't force her to do anything!"

"I know! But we both know these two need to meet again sometime soon! What if you just... give her a sign or something?" suggested the spirit as it sat next to her on the bed. I remembered I got into her Spotify account one night while she was sleeping, so I tried to pick one of her favorite songs at the moment. And then I remembered, Daughtry was one of her favorite bands! I had the perfect song! Maybe not as subtle as the rest of them, but still a good one. Start of Something Good started playing, and this time, she actually listened to the lyrics and realized that texting Jason felt right.

Consequently, she did. And they talked for weeks, without actually hanging out together, for they lived in different sides of Florence. They got to know each other a lot since then. He helped her remember things she had forgotten about herself; why music was so important in her life, how she didn't need to give up on herself after a single mistake and what she needed to do to achieve her dreams of becoming a professional in the music business. These were all things we had been telling her over the past few months. Things she would've realized sooner if it wasn't for the stupid rule Guardian Angels have. But even if I hated my limitations as her guardian, I was still happy with the boy's attempt to make her feel special. Jason was now her friend, even if their relationship lived behind a screen, they cared for each other.

Emersyn kept going to school, her motivation was slowly coming back. Her friends tried to help her get caught up, but she needed to put on more than just effort. She also went back to violin lessons after school. She was determined to get better, which was going to be hard. Even more with Cobra lurking in the background, waiting for the perfect moment to break her.

Two weeks after going to the shelter, our girl went to school and had a very productive day. The last bell rang, and she ran to the front of the school. She was adjusting her skates when she heard someone calling her. It wasn't Roz, and it wasn't Lorene either. It was a masculine voice, so she instantly thought it was her brother and so, without lifting her head she answered with, "Zach, I already told you! I have violin practice today, and I can't go to your game."

"Violin, huh? When you mentioned music, I thought it was something like guitar or singing, but violin? Wow, that's not something you hear everyday!"

Emersyn looked up and noticed that the guy who was calling her wasn't her brother, it was Jason.


	11. Lava Java and skateboarding

"What are you doing here? You're like 19 years old! Shouldn't you be studying for finals or something?"

"Yeah, or something...anyway, violin?" he asked, trying to avoid the girl's question.

As Em struggled with her roller-skates, the meanest girl in Florence decided to join their conversation. Daphne was the closest thing to a demon, if you ask me; always trying to find that one thing to make people feel miserable, always waiting for the perfect moment to attack. That explains why Cobra used her that one time and kept on using her whenever she got the chance. Daphne was filled with hate, especially for young Em.

"Well, well, well... who do we have here? Why is someone so cute hanging out with such a loser? Care to introduce us, waitress?"

"...Jason, this is Daphne, whitewater's main annoyance." said Em as she started taking off the skates, for she knew she would have to deal with this girl for at least ten minutes.

"Watch it, Howell!"

"Daphne... now, why do I know that name?"

"Maybe because I am the only good-looking person in this small town. Or maybe it's the fact that I've won prom queen three years in a row!" remarked the bully in a proud tone as she adjusted her well-rounded hair bun.

"Mmmm... no... Ah! I know how I know you! You went out with Stevie once!"

"Steven Allen? You're friends with that idiot? Pfff. Now I get why you hang out with this simpleton!"

I could feel how Em's anger was only growing with each word that escaped from that girl's mouth, and this time, she was ready to do something about it. 

"Just go home Daphne! School's over, you don't have to stay and be mean to people!"

"Nah! I have so many things left to say to you. Like where did you get those roller skates? They are so old and dirty they are just plain ugly!"

Jason stopped Em with his left arm before she could jump over the mean girl and make her regret every sentence she had just said, and decided to take care of the situation.

"Yeah, well, her skates may be old and ugly," added the boy, making his redheaded friend stare at him with confusion but that's because she's been using them for a long time. Long enough to become a roller-skating master! She never falls while skating and she can do it so smoothly... I bet you can't even skate to save your own life, right Prom Queen?" smirked the animal lover at the brown-headed girl while secretly fist-bumping Em.

"Was that supposed to make me feel worthless or something? You two are pathetic. Tell Steven he's still boring!" screamed the teenager as she flicked her scarf and left.

"Yeah... I won't say that to poor Stevie, he hates that girl." whispered Jason as they both snickered.

Em kneeled down once again to tie her skates, wondering why her new friend came all the way from the shelter and felt the need to defend her like that after barely knowing her. While waiting for the girl, the boy took a deep breath and asked the question he'd been meaning to ask.

"So... what's the story behind Daphne being... Daphne? Why does she hate you so much?"

"Long story short, we were once friends. We shared almost everything, even our love for making porcelain dolls."

"Porcelain dolls?" asked the boy as he tried not to laugh at her answer.

"Don't laugh at me! It was our parents' idea! My mom used to sell these cute porcelain decorations and she taught us how to make dolls for us to play with," explained Em while playfully punching him. "One day, there was this porcelain fair, where we could enter this contest to win a few supplies to make our dolls look even better. So, we both made our dolls, and they were beautiful... until I accidentally tripped over something and landed on the table where Daphne's doll was. She believes I did it on purpose and since that day, she's been treating me like trash and she is constantly trying to beat me in almost everything. Surprisingly, roller-skating is the one thing she can't do, so that was a good one!" said the red-head with a warm smile on her face.

"Tha-thanks," stammered the blushing teenager as he helped her get up, “Personally, I’m not one to hold a grudge like that. But I guess everyone finds it in their heart to forgive and forget eventually.”

Em finished adjusting her skates and while picking up her backpack, she looked at her friend and added "Don’t tell me you are one of those people who sees the good in people.”

“Guilty as charged.” smiled Jason before adjusting his brown glasses.

“Anyway, I should get going if I want to be on time. I'm always late...all the time... I'm working on that haha."

"Well then, I'm sorry to tell you, but you are going to be late again... actually, you are not even going to your lesson today."

Em didn't know what the smirking boy meant, but I assure you she wanted to find out more.

"Why do you say so?" she questioned as a shy grin invaded her face.

"We have something to do, Purple Skates. Come on!" said the guy while kindly grabbing her by the wrist and running away. As she had her skates on while Jason was dragging her down to the mysterious destination, that trip was one of the most fun trips she has ever had. After sliding through the neighborhood, they stopped at this strange café that seemed to be hidden from reality. Almost covered by nature was Lava Java Coffee House, one of the undiscovered treasures of the small town, and Em was happy Jason was one of the few people who knew of its existence.

The boy opened the big wooden door and bowed, as a sign of letting her enter first. She giggled at his goofiness as she roller skated her way through. On the inside, it looked like a cozy and warm place, where people go to forget about their responsibilities and just enjoy themselves. There were pictures of people hanging on every wall, a small stage at the back, and a smile on everyone's face. The amazed girl noticed the young man was well known by the people at the café, how confident he was, how everyone greeted him after we arrived; how at home he felt. She noticed this was his Forest Cloud. They sat down at a table close to the empty stage and waited for their cappuccinos.

"So, is this your spot?"

"You bet! I come here all the time. I used to have a band, you know?" said Jason while stretching in his chair.

"What happened?"

"What always happens. Big fight, and the band breaks up..."

"I'm sorry to hear that." replied the girl in the flowery green dress.

"Naaah, it's fine! Sometimes I come here and sing a little just for fun…”

Sheepy and I kept staring at the awkward teenagers, waiting for one of them to say something, to keep the conversation going.

“What if we sent something?” suggested Willow, whose anxiety was starting to increase with every passing second.

“Are we talking signs or something else?”

“ANYTHING AT ALL!”

“Relax! Awkward silences like these are normal. We also have those and we’re not even human.” I said, hoping my partner would calm itself down, for it was starting to make a scene. Even if I was the only one aware of it, it was a bit embarrassing.

“...we do?”

“Sure we do! Like whenever Em’s sleeping, or when she’s watching a movie or concentrating on something important.”

“AAAW! SO YOU WEREN’T IGNORING ME?”

“Trust me, you’ll notice when I’m ignoring you.”

“Oh, okay… wait, WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?”

Luckily for me, I didn’t have to explain my answer to the annoying little sheep because our boy Jason decided to keep the conversation going, making us stand by on the sending-a-sign plan.

So, what do you usually do for fun? You know, besides roller-skating, helping animals, playing violin?"

"Well I work at Forest Cloud, the diner near the coast."

"For real? That place is awesome! I think I've been there once with Olivia, but I'm not sure..."

"Yeah, it's like a second home to me. Whenever my friends come, I sneak into the kitchen and give them free fries... if you ever meet my mom, please don't tell her. She believes Zach ate all the missing fries." laughed the girl while confessing to the boy.

"Free fries, wow.... if your friends get free fries, then your boyfriend must get something like free burgers or free milkshakes..."

"No I, I don't have a boyfriend."

"Oh..." replied the boy as he adjusted his glasses and leaned back on his chair.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like you're playing chess and your opponent made a wrong move or something."

"Is that really how my face looks to you? Do you have a mirror by any chance?"

"JASON!" insisted Emersyn, trying not to be so loud.

"Nothing to worry about. I just think that whoever ends up winning your heart is going to be the luckiest guy in the universe."

"Because of the free food?"

"Yeah... because of the free food..." mumbled the boy before taking a sip from his cup.

I had never seen the girl blush as hard as she was blushing that evening. And all because of the boy's nice comments? Please! I've been saying so many nice things to her that she would be a human tomato if she could hear me! Of course I couldn't let Willow or Cobra see me like that. So I tried not to show how I was really feeling and kept on observing them from a distance.

They kept on talking until a woman on the microphone interrupted them.

"Goooooooood Evening Lava Java People! Today we have one of our favorites! Give it up for Jason Clarke!!"

The young singer got up and waved at everyone who was cheering, as Em cheered with them like if she were his number one fan. He then got up to the stage, and as he grabbed the microphone, he charmed the crowd with a few words.

"How's everyone doing this evening?"

The crowd clapped and screamed as if Jason was Florence's best Rockstar. Some people believed that to be true, but Jason was too humble to say anything about it.

"Anyway, I want to dedicate this song to my newest friend, Em. You see, we've been talking a lot this past few days, about music and where our lives are headed... and man, was I lucky to meet someone like her... let's see if she likes this one. Hit it Tom!"

And with those three words, one of the waiters, who was on the stage with him and the rest of the Lava Java Rock Band, took out a harmonica and Sarah Smiles by Panic! At The Disco filled the entire room like steam coming out of a boiling teapot. Jason's voice was beautifully smooth and could make anyone love the songs he chose to perform. I saw Willow dancing along to the melody, while Em wouldn't stop tapping her foot against the floor and clapping at her talented new friend. I'll admit that the boy had nice taste in music, and his voice was clearly out of this world. He also had the talent to make everyone in that room feel the song on a deeper level. Jason had a magical gift for music.

The song ended and the crowd stood up and clapped even harder than before, they added a few screams this time. Emersyn couldn't stop smiling at the nerdy boy, for she couldn't believe how talented he was. After taking a few breaths, the boy grabbed the microphone and thanked the crowd.

"Thank you! Thank you! Now, for my next performance. I'm going to need a little help from the audience."

Em turned around to see who would volunteer, since she wanted to see what else her friend had planned for the evening. Little did she know, he wanted her to be the one to volunteer.

"Em! Come up here, come on!"

As soon as she heard those six words, the ginger head tried to hide herself inside her pink sweater. The boy jumped off the stage and sat down next to her, so as to get closer to his friend, and while extending his hand, he smiled tenderly and whispered, "What do you have to lose?"

The girl smiled, and while trembling like a flickering flame of a burning candle, she took his hand and they both went on the stage. Both teenagers were dazzled by the spotlight as the entire crowd kept on staring at them in complete silence. A few minutes later, Em got enough courage and whispered a question to the talented boy standing right next to her.

"Ummm... Jason?"

"Yup?"

"W-what are we supposed to play?"

"... I don't know, Skates. It's up to you."

And with that answer, he grabbed the microphone and started talking to the crowd, leaving Em alone with her song ideas, her violin and her stage fright.

"Man, I love this place! My partner is deciding what amazing song we are going to impress you with on this fine evening. It'll just be a minute. So, order another cappuccino, or try the apple pie, I hear it's other-wordly! I have a feeling you are going to love this performance."

Exactly two seconds after he finished talking, Em started playing the violin like a pro. She picked Aquiles Come Down by Gang of Youths, as it was a band they both liked. The boy smirked at her, for he could not believe the amount of talent the girl had been hiding from him, and then started singing alongside her. Seven minutes later, the crowd wouldn't stop clapping and cheering for the awesome duo. Jason helped Em get off the stage, since he knew how this whole experience was something completely new to her.

"Wow! Why didn't you tell me you were extremely talented?!" remarked the 19-year-old in a proud tone.

"Me? What about you?! YOU CAN REALLY SING!!"

As soon as they got off the stage, I did something I didn't like, but I reckoned it was necessary. I sent another gut feeling. Maybe you're familiar with this one. You know that feeling when you are somewhere you are not supposed to be at, so you start feeling a bit guilty and you decide to get home in time before anything bad happens? Well, it may sound mean, but it was required. Em's mom was a bit strict with her from time to time, so she needed to get home before 7:30 or she would be more than upset with her daughter.

"Hey umm... it's 6:43 and I need to get home before my mom finds out I'm not there..."

"Oh! Yeah, yeah, sure. Let's go!" exclaimed the singer while picking up his belongings as fast as he could.

They skated back to her neighborhood and they arrived at her house fifteen minutes earlier.

"Well... see ya!"

"WAIT!" he screamed while trying to grab her hand. "I... uh... I wanna show you something... and you still have a few minutes left." added the nerd in a nervous tone.

The girl agreed and they both skated a few blocks away from her house. They ended up on a well-lit empty street where the boy showed her a few skateboarding tricks he had learned.

"See? Now I won't be crashing into anybody! Olivia taught me a few tricks and look! NOW I'M A PRO!!"

"It looks easy. Can I try?" asked Em while taking off her skates, eager to get on the kid's skateboard.

"Hold on a minute there! It's not as easy as—"

He didn't even get to finish his warning when the girl was already on top of the skateboard messing around and trying to make the boy laugh.

"Hey! I'm Jason! I'm a huge nerd!" mocked the girl while skateboarding around her friend, who was scared she might fall and hurt herself.

If I'm being honest with you, I was a bit scared as well. Remember how clumsy I mentioned Emersyn was? Well, that happens when she's walking. But she had never been on a skateboard before! Do you get why I was so scared?!

"Be careful Em!"

"Pffff Relax! It's not as difficult as you said it WAAAAAAAS!!"

She tried to look like an expert, but after taking a wrong turn, she was falling from the skateboard!! I yelled again and hurried to where she was, but I was too late. I didn't catch her this time. Jason did. It looked like one of those scenes in those movies you humans make. You know, the guy who catches the girl and then they get lost in each other's eyes until they come back to reality. They were both so focused on each other it was almost as if Willow and I could feel it. The creature even mocked me for not catching the girl.

"You're a little bit slow for a celestial being hehe."

"Shut up, Sheepy!"

We waited for them to awkwardly come back to their senses. I felt something that night. Something I hadn't felt before. A strong connection between these two, stronger than the first one. But I wasn't quite sure what it meant...


	12. The assistant's dimension

Jason took her home, and they texted a little more before falling asleep that same night. She wouldn't stop thinking about that evening. Why did he even pick her up at school? What would've happened if she went to her violin lesson as planned? She didn't like lying to her parents, not after what she did a few years ago... But she reckoned this time was worth it and tried not to feel too guilty about what went down with the nerdy boy.

While Em smiled at her screen, I couldn't stop thinking about how many good things we had going on in our case. Cobra was still prowling around, but she just examined the girl's life and did nothing at all. I found that a bit weird... But again, it was my first case, so maybe this behavior was normal in this type of evil creature. Although, I was a little puzzled by Willow's peculiar behavior. It kept on talking to its friends in the assistant's dimension like if it were one of those things you humans have. You know, those people who share everything about themselves online? Well, that's what my assistant looked like to me at that moment.

You see, celestial beings can communicate between dimensions, just like you humans can text or send each other pictures and videos while being in different locations. We don't use cell phones though, we prefer telepathy. We communicate with each other through our thoughts. I would explain it but there is no way you could comprehend our methods. Anyway, Willow had been communicating with other assistants from the dimension it came from since we first started sending Em signals and gut feelings.

"Who are you talking to?"

"My friends back home. I'm telling them everything!"

"Wait... you mean like about the weather and living in this dimension, right?"

"Right, yeah, that... aaaaaand also stuff about the case and the girl. It's just all so exciting!"

"WILLOW NO! STOP!!" I snapped as I shook his tiny head enough to stop the transmission.

"OW! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?"

"ME? WHY WOULD YOU SEND ALL THOSE THINGS?! YOU KNOW BETTER THAN ANYONE WHAT COBRA IS CAPABLE OF!! SHE COULD'VE INTERFERED AND USE YOUR INFORMATION FOR HER EVIL PLANS!!"

"I'm sorry Asher... I just—"

Willow had no words to justify what it had done, and I was too mad at my partner to say anything. IT WAS JEOPARDIZING OUR ENTIRE CASE!! Cobra could use all the things Willow had in its tiny sheep brain and she could ruin us without even trying. I thought about getting rid of my assistant after that. It was too careless and irresponsible for this job! I know we all make mistakes but come on! THAT WAS WAY TOO RISKY!! However, there was one problem with the getting-rid-of-Willow plan; I had no idea how to make it disappear, or even if that was an option.

As a million things kept running through my mind, the sheep approached me crying and it mumbled a few words.

"Asher... please... let me explain."

I scowled at the animal and gestured it to keep talking, hoping that its words would make more sense than its actions.

"Well... it all started back in the assistant's dimension. You may not know what goes on in there, but it's basically us waiting for the Lordships to assign us to a Guardian Angel. I've been waiting for more than sixteen centuries to be assigned to someone. I had hopes and dreams, you know? Willow, the most energetic assistant in the entire universe! I had a few friends who said I was a dreamer... but there were others who thought the exact opposite...those spirits... they kept saying mean things to me for being too energetic and clumsy. They made fun of my wings and my voice... And I know those things were... are true, but there was no need to be so mean... "You're never going to get a case if you keep acting like that." '"No Guardian Angel will want you." "You are not assistant material!" I was starting to believe them, when the Lordship opened the yellow portal to his office, the portal that led to our first meeting! That's when my faith came back! And I wanted to prove to everyone that I am assistant material!! That's why I did that... I wanted to show them how well things are going, how happy we've been making her these past few weeks. I thought that might shut them up..."

I said nothing in response, just stared out the window, absorbing how peaceful the moon looked over the coast. Even if I cared about the little guy, going behind my back like that wasn't its best idea.

"... I know what you want to do, and I don't think it's a bad idea. I know how you can get rid of me."

"How did you—"

"It's a little obvious, dude. You don't like me. You never have. So, let me explain how this works. The only thing you have to do is break the talisman the Lordship gave you, which in this case is the shoelace you have in your sneaker. By damaging the talisman, you make me disappear from this dimension and from this case."

"And where do you go?"

"... I'm not sure... nobody has the answer to that question... I'd like to believe assistants that are fired from their cases go back to the assistant's dimension... but the few assistants that have been through that had never been seen again..."

I stopped to think about everything, about my options and about what was best for Em and this case. I tried to stop thinking about Cobra and what my sidekick had done, and I focused on what we could do next, on what we could do to avoid a future disaster.

"So, you're saying that if anything were to happen to this shoelace, it would kill you, is that correct?" I said as I took the shoelace out of my shoe.

"I already told you, we don't know what happens. All I know is that I'm not allowed to work in this case or in any other, and I don't go back home either, which means that I go somewhere else. Maybe to an unknown dimension or maybe even to my own death... but it's a risk I'm willing to take if you think it's the best thing for her." Sobbed my partner as it looked at the girl with sadness in its eyes, "Okay... do it quick! Hopefully, this will be less painful if you do it quickly!"

As I held the shoelace in my hand, I closed my eyes to think for a second. Why would Willow say I didn't like working by its side? Was I being too rude? I do prefer to work alone most of the time. But perhaps I needed a partner this time, I just didn't want to admit it. And despite all the things and voices in my mind, I knew what the right choice was. And so, I adjusted the shoelace back on my sneaker, petted Willow on the head and added "You're not getting rid of me that easily, Sheepy"

"FOR REALSIES?!?! OOOOH YAAAY!! I PROMISE I WON'T MESS UP AGAIN!! I WILL BE EXTRA CAREFUL ABOUT EXPOSING US IN ANY WAY! I'LL BE THE BEST ASSISTANT IN THE GALAXY!" chirped the sheep as it made a few spins in the air.

"Hahaha, it's okay, little dude! You can still communicate with your friends back home. Just leave the case out of your conversations, alright?"

"Deal."

We talked about our dimensions all night, getting to know each other a bit better, something we never thought of doing until that day. I told my helper about Iz and Sera and how angel training was for me. The tiny thing had tons of questions about Heaven and Angels, which astonished me, as I thought a curious spirit like Willow had done more research on its life-long dream... guess not. que?

“Hey, remember when I asked you what other powers you had as an assistant? I don’t remember what your answer was.”

“You mean when you asked me and then told me to shut up?” replied my partner as it raised one of its tiny eyebrows.

“Who? Me? Pfff Nah I-- Well, Cobra was--”

“It’s okay, Ash. I know you were just doing your job.”

“Still, I should’ve been nicer to you about it…” I sighed while looking down at my feet.

“Don’t worry about it! Let’s leave the whole thing in the past. Now, are you ready to learn what else I can do?”

“We still have a few hours until she wakes up so… sure, show me what you got!”

Willow is a unique little thing. How did it manage to always have a radiantly sunny smile on its face? Always humming happy tunes and seeing the bright side of things. And don’t get me started on how it started dancing when I asked about its other powers! Jeez! It looked as if a small helicopter had entered the girl’s room! My partner was more than excited to have the spotlight on itself for one night.

“Okay, okay. As you already know, I’m in charge of the girl’s life book. But I’m not allowed to write anything on it, since she’s the one who writes it without even knowing it. I’m only allowed to read the pages of her past, so that we can use the information to help her out in the present,”

“Wait, I’ve seen that book the first time we were in her room… It’s huge! How can you, a tiny spirit, carry such a thing wherever we go?”

“Oh, I can make it any size. Usually, it’s a small book, small enough to carry it in one of those pockets of yours. I made it enormous that last time just to impress you… I thought you hated me, which you kinda did…”

“I didn’t hate you, I was just… shocked. About the case, you, Emersyn…” I confessed as I picked up the girl’s blanket from the floor and placed it on top of her shivering body, “It all happened so fast…”

“Yeah, I get what you mean… ANYWAY, the book is like the help button in a video game, we have it here if we need it, but we can’t add anything to it. No matter how many blank pages it has.”

“I know, I know, I won’t try to write in her book. I promise.”

“Good. Cause I know you were kind of the troublemaker back in Heaven, and that behaviour will only get us in trouble so--”

“Troublemaker? Pfff”

My partner directed its eyes to my arm, where all my he-went-down-to-earth burns were displayed. I rolled down the sleeve of my hoodie, hiding the evidence and making the sheep get back to its never-ending speech.

“Alright, so, besides the book, I can also go through portals. Any kind of portal, leading anywhere or anytime you need me to go. They taught us that sometimes, assistants can go to other dimensions or other times if the Guardian gives them the order. But we can’t change anything in a human’s life. So if you were planning to change something we did wrong, sorry, but I can’t do that.”

“If you can’t change that, then why do you even have that kind of power?”

“Beats me… But who knows? It might come in handy in the future!” grinned the creature while winking at me.

There’s no doubt in my mind that Willow was the optimistic one in this duo.

“Okay, enough about these lame abilities--”

“Lame abilities?” said Willow as small tears started to form in its shiny eyes.

“Nonono, you’re-- not saying that your powers are lame! They are useful! Very!”

“You didn’t seem to think that two seconds ago…”

“But I do!” I shouted as I looked at my furry friend, who flew into one of the corners of the room, trying to hide the sadness that I accidentally caused, “Ugh, God give me strength…” I whispered before walking up to the sobbing creature, hoping to fix everything.

I took a deep breath and started my apology with, “Hey, you’re not lame… and all the things you explained to me are not lame either… In fact, you’re the opposite of lame! I mean, come on! Nobody’s heard of a sheep that can read! Much less teleport to another dimension!”

“But I’m not a real shee--”

“I was just wondering if you have any...cooler powers…”

“Well, it’s not laser beams or anything like that, but I do have something that you might like…”

“The floor is yours, Sheepy.”

My partner flew into the middle of the girl’s bedroom, pushed a few of her things out of the way, and then sat down right in the center of the carpeted-floor. With both of its eyes closed, Willow muttered a few words, shook its tiny head, and suddenly, the most unbelievable thing happened. Willow’s body started changing! It’s fluffy and white wool turned into a voluminous, brown-colored maine, its body tripled in size, adding a longer tail and sharper teeth, and its voice was now deeper than mine.

And with that new deep voice, it spoke, “I can change myself into any animal!”

“AND YOU CHOSE A SHEEP?!”

“What? Sheep are cute!”

“BUT, LOOK AT YOU NOW! A FEROCIOUS LION! READY TO ATTACK AND KILL ANYTHING IN ITS WAY!”

“Well, I don’t think I could--”

“Oh, yeah… We can use this…”

After changing back to its white and furry self, my partner explained that changing its appearance is not its favorite power, for it was difficult to master. Willow’s training wasn’t easy. But then again, whose is? Since the creature wasn’t able to master this power as well as the rest of the spirits, the little guy got bullied by the other, making this its less favorite power.

"Willow, can I ask you something?" I imposed as the girl slept serenely a few feet away from us.

"Shoot!"

"Going back to your story... about those mean spirits who would say all those unpleasant things to you... why didn't you fight back?"

I noticed how Willow's tiny spark faded away because of my question. I felt terrible about putting the little creature in that position, but I needed to know why. After all, I wanted to help.

"Well... what's the point of fighting back? You're just showing them that their hurtful things are affecting you. Besides, I'm not the fighting type. Have you seen these things?" squeaked the animal while putting up its tiny hooves, "What am I supposed to do with these small things?! Pat them on the head?"

"BUT THAT'S THE THING! THEY NEED TO KNOW HOW THEY MADE YOU FEEL! THEY DESERVE TO BE PUNISHED FOR HURTING YOU!"

"SHHHHHHH SHE'S SLEEPING!"

"Are you serio—okay—dude! WE'RE IN ANOTHER DIMENSION!"

"Oh, right... my bad hehe."

I scoffed softly and then stared at the small creature, waiting for it to continue its response.

"The best way to fight back is just pretending it doesn't affect you. Fighting back wouldn't have made me better than them… I received hate and ugly comments, but I gave back smiles and compliments to everyone. That's what makes a true hero."

Willow's wise words stuck with me for a while, even if I was more of the fight back kind of guy, the small being might have been right about that. I wouldn't know how to take advantage of that advice, but it could come in handy in the future of the case. We played a few games telepathically, for we had nothing left to do besides watch Em sleep... in a non-creepy way, I assure you. After playing every game we could think of, I turned to my fluffy sidekick and mumbled a few words.

"I'm glad I got to work with you on this case, Sheepy."

"Likewise, partner." grinned the little buddy as we fist bumped once again.

We looked out the window, the sun was coming up and it embraced every single thing on the desolated coast. The waves were as cheery as always and the seagulls wouldn't stop squealing good morning to one another as they rushed to get their breakfast.

"It looks like another wonderful day!" I exclaimed in a hopeful voice.

"You betcha, partner!"

We smiled at each other and then we went back to the girl, who was waking up to her alarm song There She Goes by The La's.


	13. Even the toughest people can break

This year, Em felt like a social butterfly, making a new friend at school and one at the animal shelter, gaining enough confidence to start participating in class and even taking part in small talk with some of the diner’s customers. Two months had passed since her skateboarding adventure with the boy, and I could sense there was a certain glow that wasn't there before, something new, something that seemed to be doing her some good. _This must be a good sign!_ Was a phrase that constantly ran through my mind, since Cobra's attempts to make her feel bad were not as frequent as they were in the first few months. I wasn't sure if I should have been happy or scared about it.

Regarding school, she was doing better as well. She was still trying to get up to date with History, which was the subject she hated the most. So, she planned to get to every class earlier than the rest so as to sit at the front and pay more attention to each lecture. That day, I could feel how proud she felt! She came so early that there were only a few people at the school. This was it! Her chance to sit at the front of the class and finally catch up! She decided that it was fine to go to the restroom to fix her makeup since she wasn’t running late this time.

While fixing her voluminous curly hair and trying to remove the wrinkles from her dress, she heard someone crying in one of the bathroom stalls. She tried to ignore it, but something inside of her told her to help out that poor girl. (It was me; I was that something). At a slow pace, she got closer and closer to where the crying girl was, and while knocking softly on the door, she asked a question.

"Hey there... do you need any help?"

"Em? Is that you?" cried out the girl while peeking through the crack of the door.

"Roz?! Are you ok?! What happened?! WAS IT DAPHNE?! CAUSE I SWEAR I'M GOING TO KILL HER IF SHE'S MESSING WITH YOU TOO!"

"No... It's not her…” mumbled the girl in a wobbly voice, “This is something else... Can we talk somewhere else?" 

Emersyn stopped to think for a second. She needed to get good grades in History so that her mom wouldn't kill her, but she also had to help Roz... She was the toughest friend she had, and now she was crying! Since the poor redhead was stuck at a crossroads, I gave her the gut feeling that made her choose the most important thing at the moment, which made Willow a little mad at first.

"Don't you think this is wrong?!"

"You are not really asking me that, are you? Look at Roz! She is a mess! She could use a friend right now!" I added in a taut voice.

They left the school and walked to the park that was nearby. It was a beautiful day; the chirping of the birds and the warm rays of sunlight made skipping school seem like one of Em’s most brilliant ideas. And so, they sat down in one of the benches that were facing the water fountain and stayed in the comfort the silence provided. Roz couldn't stop her tears from falling, and all Em could do was be there for her, hug her and wait for her to be comfortable enough to talk about her problems.

"I-it's about my past…” finally spoke Roz as she wiped off her tears, “my dad... he is a criminal... a psychopath who finds pleasure in murdering innocent people..."

...I knew girls had problems, but this was not what I had in mind...at all.

"He's been in prison for years, and he got released a few days ago and I am really scared, Em! My mom was the one who turned him in! What if he finds her? What if he finds you or Lorene?! HE IS CRAZY EM!! I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!" wept the blonde girl while resting her head on the redhead's shoulder.

Em had never been in this type of situation before, so she was scared to say the wrong thing to her friend. After deciding to trust her gut, she took her friend's hand and gripped it tight, looked deep into her teary eyes, and while hugging her with the other arm she said, "Don't worry, Roz. I'm pretty sure the authorities can protect your family and friends. Besides, what if your dad has changed? You know, there are psychiatrists in prison too! Maybe they helped your dad, and he is better now... Anything is possible."

Em softly padded Roz's head while she let out all the tears she had been keeping in for so long as she kept trying to believe her redhead friend. After all, she was right. Some humans are capable of change, and perhaps Mr. Sawyer was one of them.

The park was really quiet, and it seemed as if they were the only two people in there, which may sound a bit scary, but to them it was the most peaceful environment they could've asked for. Em let out a few jokes to make her laugh or at least smile, which she did! And after a few minutes, Roz stopped crying and with a normal voice she made Em promise not to tell anyone about her family history, since she didn't want people to gossip or talk to her about it.

"Keeping secrets is one of the things I'm actually good at." remarked the girl while she winked at her friend.

Ignoring their responsibilities as students, the two girls laughed and headed to the nearest ice cream shop, where they ordered their favorite flavors and spent more time enjoying their company. Em might have missed her history lesson that day, but she had an extremely good reason. She helped her friend and made their friendship even stronger than it already was.

Roz decided to go back to her house once they both finished their ice cream, while Emersyn tried to find the motivation to go back to class afterwards. But as she stood in front of the building, she just felt like going home. And so, she did. I didn't quite approve of her choice...But she had already missed History so, I reckon that missing the rest wasn't such a big deal. She took her phone, pressed shuffle to her playlist, and skated away from the school as _Don't Come Down by The Maine_ blasted on her blue headphones. Five songs later and she was already home, but as it was early in the afternoon, there was nobody there.

She took advantage of having all the house to herself and decided to change into a big blue shirt, socks and nothing else. The girl made herself a milkshake and tried to sing along to songs from _The Happy Fits_ , which she loved but could never sing properly. It was still fun to see her try. This one-girl concert began in the kitchen and continued in the privacy of her own bedroom. Watching Em being her true self was something I always enjoyed. It was the only time when she did things because she wanted to do them, when she didn’t have to worry about who might be watching her, so she acted as silly as possible; the only time when she was truly and unapologetically herself.

She was in the middle of _Achey Bones_ , when she heard an unusual sound coming from her bedroom window, as if someone was throwing rocks at it from the ground, hoping she would come out.

I remember her first reaction was funny. She turned off her music and hid behind her flowery curtains, covering herself well enough not to be seen by whoever was trying to call her attention. But after seeing who was the one who kept throwing the rocks, she revealed her face and opened the window.

"You know I have a doorbell, right?" laughed the girl as she rested her arms on the windowsill.

"I know, but I couldn't risk being seen by your neighbors." explained Jason, while looking over his shoulder every two seconds.

"Being seen by my nei--"

"Can I come up? Please! I need a place to hide!"


End file.
